An initial group of GWAS of alcohol dependence were published over the last the several years. It is beyond the scope of this review to detail methodological aspects of the published alcohol dependence GWAS. For a detailed description of GWAS study design and experimental details see (Hart and Kranzler, 2015). Briefly, the GWAS we discuss examine the DSM-IV defined phenotype of alcohol dependence using either case-control status of alcohol dependence as the primary phenotype or quantitative phenotypes derived from DSM-IV alcohol dependence (e.g., criterion factor score). In several of these studies secondary or intermediate phenotypes are also examined which include: age of onset, maximum drinks consumed in a 24-h period, and heaviness of drinking. Discovery sample sizes range from approximately 300–16,000 subjects consisting of European American, African American, Australian of European descent, Chinese, Korean, or German populations. Overall, genome-wide significant (p < 10–8) and replicable SNPs were located in the following genes or non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs): ADH1B, ADH1C, ADH7, ALDH2, LOC100507053 (Frank et al., 2012; Gelernter et al., 2014; Park et al., 2013). Not surprisingly, the SNPs in the genes
