The increasingly rapid pace of genetic discovery also has resulted in the identification of several genes encoding other types of proteins that appear to be associated with alcohol use and/or dependence. These include, for example, two genes encoding taste receptors (i.e., the TAS2R16 gene [Hinrichs et al. 2006] and the TAS2R38 gene [Wang et al. 2007]) and a human gene labeled ZNF699 (Riley et al. 2006) that is related to a gene previously identified in the fruit fly Drosophila as contributing to the development of tolerance to alcohol in the flies. Future research will be necessary to elucidate the pathways by which these genes influence alcohol dependence and/or whether they are more broadly involved in other forms of drug dependence.
