AUD is a complex, heterogeneous disorder encompassing a variety of behavioral, psychological, and physiological traits with a complex longitudinal structure, thus posing an enormous challenge for genetic analysis. Instead, AUD can be fractionated into dimensions or symptoms. Several recent GWAS have used this approach, and it is now common to study quantitative measures, including alcohol consumption and aspects of disordered drinking, in large population samples. As a result, GWAS of alcohol use, misuse and AUD are now beginning to uncover genetic signals that have the potential to be further analyzed at the molecular, cellular, and circuit level in cellular and animal model systems. Findings from polygenic prediction and genetic correlation analyses, which are major trends in psychiatric genetics, have demonstrated that alcohol use behaviors share a common genetic basis with numerous psychiatric, educational and health outcomes. Unsurprisingly, even though studying alcohol consumption has shown some utility, it is apparent that this phenotype cannot be used as a proxy for AUD. We anticipate that big datasets, including those from electronic health records, will revolutionize the field in the years to come.
