By studying genetic codes in mice, a Binghamton University professor is taking a different look at drug addiction — and potential cures for those addicted.
With the help of a grant totaling $11,714,623 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a division of the National Institutes of Health, a group of researchers from five universities are looking into the genetic causes of addiction in hopes of creating more effective means of treatment.
J. David Jentsch, a professor of psychology who received his doctorate in neurobiology from Yale, will continue his almost 20 years of work in the field at his BU lab. The other researchers are from the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, the University of North Carolina, University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Commonwealth University.
The study focuses on cocaine addiction, and uses mice with varied genetic makeups specially provided by the Jackson Laboratory. These mice are used because their genetic composition closely mimics the makeup of the human population. The research will be conducted by studying the genetic makeup of the mice to identify possible recurring genes in mice who experience addiction. In doing so, Jentsch said, the researchers hope to find a link between genetics and predisposition to addiction in humans.
“Through decades of study we’ve learned addiction is a disease process,” Jentsch said. “Once an addiction starts, it has an effect on the brain, on the nervous system, on the behavior of organisms.”
Jentsch explained that his team is not looking for the full biological profile of an addict that has already been altered by drug use. Rather, they are looking for the potential neural pathways that could lead a person toward addiction, beginning with their first consumption of a drug. This research could lead to doctors being able to inform at-risk patients of their susceptibility to drug addiction.
“Knowing the genes that are responsible for predisposition is interesting to us because, as a scientist, I don’t want to just sit passively by and document the genes that are responsible for disposition,” Jentsch said. “I want to understand the biology of disposition because I want to be able to suggest and steer intervention research.”
Earlier research from members of the group has shown that predisposition to addiction could possibly be controlled by a single gene. Jentsch expressed hope that the collaborative effort could help accelerate progress on strengthening this link.
“Our goals are the same and the reason we all came together for this project is because we were all in our own ways tackling a similar problem but with our own approach,” Jentsch said. “And each of our approaches has its own strengths and its own weaknesses. One of the ways you make greater progress in science is by people bringing their own unique skills.”