Woes betide the humble fruit fly, unfortunate little bags of genes that they are. For years, the common fruit fly, or Drosophila melanogaster to its friends, has been the organism of choice for geneticists, and it appears that after years of hard work and service they are finally being allowed to kick back and relax a little. Some, it seems, are enjoying the relaxation just a little more than others. In fact, recent fruit fly research supports the long held disease model of addiction.
In a study published in the October print issue of the scientific journal Genetics, scientists at North Carolina State University have used groups of drunken fruit flies to uncover networks of genes that have now been shown to predispose certain individuals to alcoholism at higher rates than their more moderate peers. Professor of Biology and Genetics Robert Anholt and his colleagues first measured how long after alcohol exposure the fruit flies became, shall we say, tipsy, and then measured changes in the expression of all the flies’ genes. What they found was distinct patterns in how certain genes worked together to influence adaptation to alcohol exposure.
So, do we really care if the fly in our drink is there because he is genetically predisposed to be there, or because he had a difficult larval stage? Well, maybe not. However, these particular genes appear to be among the roughly 60% that are shared between humans and fruit flies, and as such hold a great deal of interest to both the scientific community, the medical community, and the estimated 23 million people in the United States alone who suffer from addiction.
The disease model of addiction has been part of the literature for decades now, but the stigma associated with addiction and the accompanying sense of shame often acts as a barrier to treatment. Even when help is sought, traditional treatment methods have only varying effectiveness and high drop out rates. In that respect, this new research holds a huge amount of potential for the treatment and prevention of addiction.
In the battle against disease, particularly a disease as devastating and insidious as addiction, the Sun Tzu adage ‘know thy enemy’ couldn’t be truer. Until now, scientists have had the disadvantage of trying to treat a disease for which they had no precise knowledge of the cause. Now, armed with this new information, development of effective medication is a real possibility. Heady stuff, indeed.
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