The three biological pathways significantly associated with the developmental consumption trajectory were broader and more explicitly developmentally oriented, particularly “developmental biology” and “axon guidance”, which shared several implicated genes related to nervous system development (e.g., ROBO1, ROBO2, ANK3). The final significant pathway associated with the developmental trajectory, G-protein signaling, functions as an intermediary messenger system for many hormones, neurotransmitters and other signaling molecules. While G-protein signaling is involved in many biological processes, it is known that alcohol intoxication is directly connected to the actions of four G-protein gated inwardly-rectifying potassium (GIRK) channel subunits, one of which was among the genes implicated in this pathway analysis (i.e., KCNJ3) (Aryal et al., 2009; Lewohl et al., 1999). Despite the general plausibility of these pathway results, it is worth noting that given the incomplete, low resolution nature of current biological databases, findings should be regarded as tentative pending future tests of replication as database content and accuracy continue to improve (Khatri, Sirota & Butte, 2012).
