Alcohol is enjoyed by many, but its abuse can lead to enormous adverse individual and societal consequences. According to the World Health Organization, alcohol abuse accounts for 4% of the global health burden [1]. While twin, adoption, and family studies suggest that there is a strong genetic component to alcoholism [2], [3], identifying susceptibility factors in human populations is difficult because of the heterogeneity of the disorder and the likelihood that there are multiple genes of small effect that contribute to the disease.
