The ADH enzymatic pathway is shared throughout evolutionary history. Modulation of ethanol metabolism has been shown to have a variety of biological effects across phyla when animals ingest large quantities of exogenous ethanol. In Drosophila melanogaster, functional variations in both ADH (Geer et al., 1989; Ogueta et al., 2010) and ALDH (Wolf et al, 2002; Fry and Saweikis, 2006; Fry et al., 2008) contribute to variation in ethanol sensitivity. In humans, functional variants of both ADH and ALDH have been correlated with altered susceptibility to becoming alcoholic. We have assessed the behavioral effects of altering alcohol metabolism in C. elegans.
