When one suggests that a behavior is determined genetically, then one horribly oversimplifies the situation, and negates the importance of culture and free will in determining how a person behaves. One behavior that has gained large-scale acceptance as having a partial genetic cause is that of alcoholism. This genetic cause I expressed in terms of risk factor. It has often been noted that the children of alcoholics are more at risk of becoming addicted to alcohol than are other children.in the last five or so years, technique arising from the Human Genome Project have made it possible to sequence human genes and actually try to pinpoint the locus of the genes associated with alcohol risk.One of the studies examined in this paper even goes so far as to suggest that the gene that is associated with alcoholism determines not only one’s risk for alcohol, but even the alcohol consumption habits of social drinkers. This is significant because it suggests that even normal behavior is genetically determined. Some studies of alcohol addiction correlate the risk for addiction with social disorders in general, which can be seen from childhood. It is one of the points of this paper that such correlations do not represent a genetic predisposition to antisocial behavior, but rather a potential cause for alcoholism which is not necessarily genetic.Data:1)The first study examines beta-endorphin (An endorphin produced by the pituitary gland that is a potent pain suppressant) responses to alcohol among monozygotic (MZ, of or from one fertilized egg, as identical twins) and dizygotic (DZ, developing from two fertilized eggs, as fraternal twins) twins. The study was conducted at the University of Indiana, and the subjects were 51 MZ and 37 same sex DZ twins. The hypothesis was that beta-endorphin levels as a response to alcohol consumption are determined by genetic factors. Also, it is hypothesized in this study that a higher level of beta-endorphi...
