Drunken fruit flies could be the key to helping combat alcoholism in humans.

    Researchers from North Carolina State and Boston University have studied how long it took fruit flies to react to alcohol – specifically the time before they lost 'postural control'. At the same time, changes in the flies' genes were also recorded to see if specific genes interacted as the alcohol levels increased. The scientists not only found that genetic 'expressions' did take place but were also able to pinpoint which genes were affected.

    They next extended the study to discover whether the same genetic expression also occurs in humans when they are drinking. The results, which have been published in the October issue of the journal Genetics, have confirmed that the same genes are affected.

    The team now hopes to use its discovery to explore why humans have varying alcohol tolerance levels, and to work towards creating drugs that could prevent or eliminate alcohol dependency.

    "From a scientific point-of-view, research like this is almost intoxicating," said Mark Johnston, editor-in-chief of Genetics. "We've known for a while now that genetics played a role in alcohol consumption, but now, we actually know some of the genes that are involved. As a result of this work, we have a potential drug target for curing this insidious condition."

    醉果蠅可能是幫助人類戰勝酒精中毒的關鍵。

    來自北開羅來納州和波斯頓大學的研究人員已經研究了果蠅在失去"體位控制"前需要多久才能對酒精反應的具體時間。與此同時，蒼蠅基因的改變也被記錄以查看是否在酒精含量增加時有特定基因相互反應。科學家們不僅發現"基因表現"確實發生了而且能夠確定哪些基因受到影響。

    接下來他們延伸領域到發現是否在它們喝醉時也有相同的基因表現發生。結果已發表在遺傳學雜志十月號發表，證實確實有相同的基因收到影響。

    現在，研究小組希望利這個發現去探索人類為何有不同的酒精承受力，以及沿著制造出能夠阻止或消除酒精依賴的藥品方向努力。

    遺傳學雜志主編馬克 約翰斯頓說："從科學角度，這樣的研究是令人心醉的，我們知道已有一段時間，基因在酒精消耗中起一定的作用，但是現在，我們實際上知道所涉及的一些基因。因為這項工作的結果，我們有了治療這種險惡情況的潛在藥物目標。"