Introduction Background Substance use disorder is a severe chronic disease that adversely affects the lives, health, and well-being of individuals when neglected or unaddressed in a proper and timely manner. Alcohol use disorder is one of the most prevalent conditions affecting people of various ages and resulting in severe comorbidities related to physical and mental health. Indeed, multiple research studies recognize liver cirrhosis, hepatocarcinoma, depression, and other mental and physical impairments, as well as negative social consequences, are correlated and dependent on alcoholism (Jain et al.; Jones et al. 721-722). Alcohol intake in excessive amounts or for continuous periods of time increases the “risk of high blood pressure, high triglycerides, increased abdominal girth, and elevated blood glucose” (Jain et al. par. 8). Moreover, excessive alcohol consumption is a frequent cause of death. The statistics on alcohol use consequences in relation to health and mortality demonstrate that it is a significant issue both nationally and globally. Indeed, according to the data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “alcohol use contributes to approximately 88,000 deaths annually in the United States” (Tawa et al. 507). Furthermore, on an annual global scale, more than one million individuals aged 15 and older have been diagnosed with alcohol addiction (Zaso et al. 216). Such a high level of identified cases of alcohol use disorders is reflected by the statistical data on worldwide mortality rates induced by uncontrolled drinking. Indeed, as stated by Zaso et al., “139 million disability-adjusted life years and 3.3 million global deaths were attributed to alcohol in 2012” (2016). Such a high level of severe consequences of this disorder encourages scholars, health care professionals, and counselors work collaboratively to find answers to the questions and solutions to the problems of alcoholism. As a clinical diagnosis, alcohol addiction is a well-documented condition that is characterized by particular characteristics. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition contains “11 criteria pertaining to excessive alcohol use, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence” (Tawa et al. 507). These criteria include but are not limited to continuous drinking and inability to stop in spite of health complications or mental health impairments. Given the clinical diagnoses, the wide-spread nature of the problem, and the severe consequences impacting the life and health of millions of people, the in-depth investigation of the causes of the disorder is of critical importance. The topic of the hereditary nature of alcohol abuse has long been at the center of scholarly debate in biology. Much has been investigated in terms of the inherited likelihood of the consecutive generations to develop a dependence on alcohol if their family members have been impacted by the issue. The extensive research findings in this field indicate that there are multiple genes in a human organism that contribute to the likelihood of developing alcohol use disorder (Edenberg and McClintick 2281; Jain et al.; Tawa et al. 507-508; Wall et al. 59). However, there is a specific group of genes that have been identified to account for alcohol intake in particular. M