In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that there is a genetic
component to alcoholism. Attempts to isolate alcoholism genes have met wit
h modest success, in part because alcoholism is a multigenic trait, Recentl
y, experimental animal models and novel genetic manipulations have provided
several clues as to the specific genes involved in alcoholism, and extensi
ve research has identified many genes that might influence responses to alc
ohol, Although not all of these might be proven to influence drug sensitivi
ty, research has provided evidence for the involvement of a few genes. Ulti
mately, findings from animal models that investigate the function of specif
ic genes could aid the development of pharmacotherapies to treat alcohol de
pendence.