Genetic research on alcohol dependence and other psychiatric disorders is still in the early stages of identifying genes that contribute to risk. Some important questions concerning GxE interaction effects can already be addressed in Asian populations, where the relatively high prevalence of the protective ALDH2–2 allele allows for powerful analyses of interactions with environmental risk factors, as illustrated by the study of Higuchi and colleagues (1994). In populations of other ancestry, however, such analyses may need to await the identification of further genetic risk factors for alcohol dependence.
