Boffin finds gene for coke addiction

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By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Biology, 11th November 2008 12:52 GMT

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A German researcher has found a gene linked to cocaine addiction - coke addicts were 25 per cent more likely to have the gene than those who do not use the drug.

Rainer Spanagel, a professor at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Germany, said: "If you are a carrier of this gene variant, the likelihood of getting addicted to cocaine is higher," , according to The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, via the Guardian.

The prof said the discovery could be used to screen people who would be susceptible to ~~working at the BBC~~ the devil's dandruff and given counselling or even "vaccinated" - given drugs which block the high that comes with cocaine.

The study said: "We found that a single nucleotide polymorphism in the CAMK4 promoter was significantly associated with cocaine addiction."

Rainer Spanagel has previously published research studying genetically-modified alcoholic mice - they drink more in April apparently and female mice drank more than male mice. ®

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