Another major advancement in the search for genes contributing to the risk for alcoholism was the initiation in 1989 of the NIAAA-funded Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a family study with the expressed goal of identifying contributing genes using newly available genetic technologies (Begleiter et al. 1995; Bierut et al. 2002; Edenberg 2002). The study was groundbreaking in several ways, including its size, emphasis on families, and extensive characterization of subjects. In the process, COGA researchers developed a novel assessment instrument, the Semi-Structured Assessment of the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA), which since has been translated into nine languages and is used by over 237 investigators worldwide in studies of alcohol use and dependence.
