The identification of genes with markers whose allelic frequencies distinguish addicts of several different ethnicities from matched controls supports “common disease/common allele” genetic architecture [287] for at least much of addiction vulnerability. The convergent data derived from studies of individuals with addictions to substances in several different pharmacological classes supports the idea that “higher order pharmacogenomic/pharmacogenetic” variations enhance vulnerability to many addictions. These results do not exclude additional contributions to addiction vulnerability from genomic variants that influence vulnerability to specific substances or variants that are found only in specific populations. Nevertheless, the findings presented here provide promise for enhancing understanding of features that are common to human addictions in ways that could facilitate efforts to personalize prevention and treatment strategies for debilitating addictive disorders.
