A new twins study from the Netherlands has found that genetic factors appear to be involved in the early initiation of alcohol use, while common environmental factors become involved once alcohol use has begun.

Results will be published in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at OnlineEarly.

"A lot of studies examining alcohol use in adolescents have focused on several social factors in alcohol use, for example, the influence of friends and parents," said Evelien A. P. Poelen, a researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, "while genetic factors have often been neglected. We thought both factors should be taken into account simultaneously in order to examine the relative contribution of both to the initiation and frequency of drinking."

Poelen and her colleagues used data collected through the Netherlands Twin Register to identify 694 twin pairs who were 12 to 15 years of age during survey years 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2000. Of these pairs, 125 were identical males, 89 were fraternal males, 183 were identical females, 106 were fraternal females, and 191 were fraternal of the opposite sex (in total, 619 males, 769 females). Initiation and frequency of drinking were analyzed as a function of three influences: genetic effects, common environmental effects, and unique environmental effects.

Results showed that genetic factors were most important for variation in early initiation of alcohol use, while common environmental factors explained most of the variation in frequency of drinking once alcohol use had been initiated.

"It is often assumed that initiation of use is mainly predicted by social factors, for example, family norms toward alcohol use," said Poelen. "This study shows that genetic factors are also involved in early initiation and that is a new perspective."

Given that genetics may be involved in alcohol use at such a young age, it is vitally important that these genes not be "triggered," she added. "Parents should delay the age of initiation of their adolescent children to alcohol, even within what may be considered a safe home environment."

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"OriGene is proud to be a contributor to this exciting research. The study provides another proof-of-principle of using a large collection of over-expression cDNA clones to decipher gene functions in biological pathways," said Dr. Zairen Sun, VP of R&D at OriGene. "We are excited that scientists are taking advantage of such collection to accelerate their research. We hope this publication will serve as a tutorial for those who wish to try large-scale biology."

OriGene's TrueClone collection of over 20,000 unique cDNA clones has empowered multiple pioneering groups to discover novel genes in major pathways through genome-scale biology. The Cell publication further validated the value of the TrueClone collection. The comprehensiveness of the collection and the expression-readiness of the cDNA clones make it the ideal source for high-throughput functional screening. To make the collection more accessible and assay-ready, OriGene now offers the convenient Kinome GFC (Genome wide Full-length cDNA) Transfection Array.

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