The identification of any genes that appear important in alcoholism susceptibility provides an opportunity to better understand the biological pathways involved in alcohol’s actions. It also may yield important insights that will allow the development of better pharmacological treatments to help those who wish to reduce their alcohol consumption. All such potential new therapies will of course be tested first in animal models (Egli 2005), and the coordination of animal model and human research therefore will continue to be an important theme for alcohol research for many years to come.
