A Genome Wide Association Study For Alcohol And Nicotine Addiction Susceptibility Genes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$872,816.00
Summary
Alcohol and nicotine addiction are major public health problems within Australia. As well as the personal and economic costs associated with dependence, there is a wide range of downstream health effects from heavy drinking and smoking. This is a proposal for a genome wide association study to systematically screen and identify genetic variants within the Australian population that affects an individual's liability to developing alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction or both.
Australian Genomewide Association Study In Osteoporosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$882,722.00
Summary
Osteoporosis is a common condition in which bone strength is reduced due to reduced amount and quality of bone. Reduced bone strength means an increased risk of fracture. Osteoporotic fractures occur in 1 in 2 women and 1 in 3 men in their lifetime, and the likelihood of suffering osteoporotic fracture increases with age. Most of the risk of developing osteoporosis is genetic, but few of the genes involved have been identified. Our goal is to identify those genes.
Fine Mapping Of The ADH Region For Alcohol Metabolism, Use And Dependence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$215,690.00
Summary
It is widely known that alcohol use and alcohol dependence can cause many social problems and morbidity. We know that social and and cultural factors can affect the possibility of becoming alcohol dependent. We also know that inheritance plays a major role in the risk of becoming dependent upon alcohol. Two inherited causes or genes have already been identified as causing some people to avoid alcohol and so have less chance of becoming dependent upon it. Clues as to why this happens come from wh ....It is widely known that alcohol use and alcohol dependence can cause many social problems and morbidity. We know that social and and cultural factors can affect the possibility of becoming alcohol dependent. We also know that inheritance plays a major role in the risk of becoming dependent upon alcohol. Two inherited causes or genes have already been identified as causing some people to avoid alcohol and so have less chance of becoming dependent upon it. Clues as to why this happens come from what happens to alcohol following a drink. The body detoxifies itself of alcohol in the liver. There it is converted to very highly toxic acetaldehyde and this is normally rapidly removed by a protein called aldehyde dehydrogenase. Some people do not have a normally functioning form of this protein and cannot remove the acetaldehyde from their bodies. They suffer unpleasant side effects such as nausea, facial flushing and sickness. Consequently they learn by experience to avoid alcohol use and are less likely to develop dependence. We now know that even people with a normally inherited form of aldehyde dehydrogenase can have a lowered risk of dependence. The rate at which our livers convert alcohol to actetaldehyde is also a key factor. Those who are inherently quick at this process again learn to avoid alcohol, others are more at risk. The hypothesis will be tested with a unique set of twins who have provided us with detailed information on how quickly they detoxify alcohol and of their drinking habits for over 20 years. Collectively they will enable us to determine if there is a major genetic influence on alcohol use and dependence that is caused by inter-individual differences in a gene for alcohol metabolism. The DNA of these twins will be used to locate mutations that we predict have a common effect upon our measures of alcohol detoxification, drinking habits and risk of alcoholism.Read moreRead less