Addiction is considered a personal vice. Millions in America are addicted to several harmful substances. The list of these abusive substances is endless and so is the list of ailments associated to them. Medications and therapy techniques are not immune from side effects and pain apart from the cost. Researchers now report that the urge to get addicted and the human genes are related. This article tries to gain further insight.

Basics required to appreciate the research findings: The human body is made of cells. They are the basic building blocks of our body. Every cell contains the nucleus inside it. Inside the nucleus, there are Chromosomes. The chromosomes are the set of basic instructions which the whole body follows. A gene is a single instruction. 99% of genes in all the humans are the same. It is the 1% difference in genes which makes all of us as unique individuals.

The Research : According to researchers at the Universities of Virgenia and Michigan, there are many genes responsible for different types of addiction. The research was conducted in April 2009. The experts closely studied the chromosomes supposed to be associated with addiction. They identified 11 chromosomes as the probable locations of genes which cause addictions like alcohol, heroin, nicotine, cocaine, cannabis and opoids.

The researchers observed that some chromosomal locations had particular genes piled up over each other. It suggests that these are the instructions which cause addiction to more than one substance. Apart from that, changes in the structure of the instruction sets (the chromosomes), technically called mutation, also causes multiple addictions.

The Road Ahead: After identifying the probable genetic locations, the researchers are now trying to pin point the genes solely responsible for various types of addictions. They will try to understand the process by which these instructions get carried out by further studies. It will lead to developing much more effective techniques for treating addiction patients.

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