The field of pharmacogenetics is evolving and as knowledge accumulates, more gene-gene and gene-environment interactions are likely to evolve as well. This layered on top of the growing appreciation that alcohol dependence is a pathophysiological process that changes over time, will make the simultaneous evaluation of genes in different salient brain systems more important. In addition, more specificity in the definition of alcohol using and dependent populations is likely to assume a greater importance for alcohol and/or medication by gene interactions. To the extent that the data presented here reinforce that concept, their importance transcends their immediate relevancy.
