er allele thought to contribute to the prevalence of alcoholism is called the A1 allele. The A1 allele is associated with the dopamine receptor. Due to the fact that alcohol is a drug that affects dopamine levels it was believed that the A1 allele could hold a key to discovering the genetic reasons for alcoholism. The A1 allele has also been linked to a variety of mental disorders. Since the initial study connecting alcoholism to the A1 allele, it has not been replicated and there is no new evidence to prove that the two are connected. In fact the theory that the A1 allele is related to either mental illness or alcoholism has been refuted but it remains a variable when examining brains of people of different ethnic backgrounds. Although genetic differences regarding the A1 allele have not been found in relation to higher alcoholism levels among certain populations it is interesting to note that the “A1 allele frequency is less than 10% in Yemenite Jews, is about 40% in American Blacks, and is about 80% in Cheyenne Indians.” (Steen, 1996 p. 213) Given that these frequencies mirror the occurrence of alcoholism in the stated populations one wonders if the A1 allele is significant in some way. Animal Studies and TechnologyFor a wide variety of reasons, animal studies cannot be relied upon to explain human behavior. It is entirely possible though, to look at animal studies to try and gain insight into some of the reasons that humans are afflicted in certain ways. Some of the best evidence illustrating a genetic factor in alcoholism has been achieved through the inbreeding of lab animals. The heredity of alcoholism has been better explained by inbreeding mice and rats to determine whether offspring would have the same alcoholic preferences as parents. With this selective breeding, strains of mice and rats did develop family influenced preferences to alcohol, but even with a line of rats developed through 37 generation...
