Gene identification efforts also have been focused largely in populations of European descent historically; however, there has been progress more recently in expanding study populations to include more individuals of African descent. This is particularly critical since there are different ancestral histories, resulting in different genetic architectures, among individuals of African descent. This means that different genetic variants may be associated with the same outcome in different populations. It remains unknown the extent to which specific genes and specific variants that are important in alcohol use outcomes in individuals of European descent will be shared among individuals of African descent.
