] Researchers have identified a genetic factor that may ] predispose young people to harmful drinking habits. A ] team of scientists interviewed college students about ] their alcohol consumption and then analyzed their genetic ] profiles, or genotypes. They found that students who ] shared a particular variant of the serotonin transporter ] gene (5HTT) consumed more alcohol per occasion, more ] often drank expressly to become inebriated, and were more ] likely to engage in binge drinking than students without ] the variant. The study appears in the current issue of ] the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. I blame my sophmore year in college on my genes. |