The genetic basis of addiction

Abstract

Addiction is a complex disease influenced by genetic, environmental, developmental, and social factors. Once viewed as a moral weakness in character, substance use disorders are now defined as maladaptive patterns of substance use leading to inability to control use despite significant consequences in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) [ 1 ]. Family, adoption, and twin studies support the importance of biologic factors and prompted the search for an inherited link. Because addiction is a heterogeneous and complex disorder without a clear Mendelian pattern, identification of specific genes has proved challenging.