There is a substantial genetic component to the variation in alcohol consumption, although studies of alcohol use have largely focused on AUD to date. A recent meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies estimated the heritability of AUD to be 0.49 (95% confidence interval 0.43–0.53).3 A study of twin pairs with genomic data estimated that the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability of AUD was 33% (se=0.12).4 Studies of the heritability of alcohol consumption are far fewer in number, but a study of 2877 twin pairs estimated the heritability of alcohol consumption to be 0.43 (95% confidence interval 0.31–0.56). Using a sample of unrelated parents, the same authors estimated ~18% of the variance in alcohol consumption is attributable to common SNPs.5
