It is the third renewal of the COGA grant which funds a national effort to locate genes associated with alcoholism. The first part involved our original experiments. The second we called a replication sample in which we tried to replicate our original findings. The COGA study has followed families with several members that have problems with alcohol dependence. Family members as young as 7 years old have been interviewed to help researchers find out how this illness evolves.
Investigators take blood samples from participants.
There is a gene located on chromosome one that we're particularly interested in because it is part of a genetic system that's been demonstrated to control sensitivity to alcohol in the fruit fly. Together, they seem to affect the fruit fly's nervous system and its sensitivity to alcohol. Reich believes the COGA study will be able to link several more genes to alcohol dependence, and a second new grant could help locate more. It also will involve neuroimaging studies of structures in the brain that may behave differently in people who are alcohol-dependent. And we continue to participate in this national consortium with a number of other centers.