The selective breeding programs described herein have led to the creation of several invaluable and irreplaceable alcohol-preferring rat lines that play a critical role in advancing our knowledge of the factors that mediate the development of alcoholism. Moreover, these high alcohol-consuming rat lines have provided important information for medication development to curtail alcohol abuse and dependence (Tables 3 and 4). Thus, we believe that the future of medication development targeting alcohol abuse and dependence will be advanced by the continued use of these animal models and should involve a multidimensional and multipronged strategy:
