In summary, this study demonstrates that human iPS-derived neural cells provide a promising new model system to examine the molecular and biological effects of alcohol on human nervous tissue. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of acute and chronic alcohol exposure on human neurons derived from iPS cells. Using this subject-specific tissue, future research should aim to identify and examine molecular differences in neural cultures derived from individuals differentiated by the presence of alcohol tolerance and genetic markers of risk for alcohol dependence.
