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."

醉果蝇可能是帮助人类战胜酒精中毒的关键。

来自北开罗来纳州和波斯顿大学的研究人员已经研究了果蝇在失去"体位控制"前需要多久才能对酒精反应的具体时间。与此同时，苍蝇基因的改变也被记录以查看是否在酒精含量增加时有特定基因相互反应。科学家们不仅发现"基因表现"确实发生了而且能够确定哪些基因受到影响。

接下来他们延伸领域到发现是否在它们喝醉时也有相同的基因表现发生。结果已发表在遗传学杂志十月号发表，证实确实有相同的基因收到影响。

现在，研究小组希望利这个发现去探索人类为何有不同的酒精承受力，以及沿着制造出能够阻止或消除酒精依赖的药品方向努力。

遗传学杂志主编马克 约翰斯顿说："从科学角度，这样的研究是令人心醉的，我们知道已有一段时间，基因在酒精消耗中起一定的作用，但是现在，我们实际上知道所涉及的一些基因。因为这项工作的结果，我们有了治疗这种险恶情况的潜在药物目标。"