thesis+based+research+assignment

Mercy Eustace Senior thesis October 13, 2008 My topic is the genetics of drug addiction. I decided to go down this research path because I find this topic very interesting and feel that people could learn a lot from my project. The driving question that guided my research is, **“**** How do genetic factors contribute to drug and alcohol addiction?” Other questions that had to be answered were “what factors contribute to drug addiction?” and “do genetic factors contribute to drug addiction?” ** A. "Genetics and addiction: scientists are uncovering new information from the field of genetics that will be able to help in the prevention and treatment of drug addiction.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY)." //New York Times Upfront.// 141. 2 (Sept 22, 2008): 21(3). //Student// //Resource Center// // - Gold//. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 3 Oct. 2008. < http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do ? &contentSet=IAC-Documents &type=retrieve &tabID=T003 &prodId=SRC-1 &docId=A186224297 &source=gale &srcprod=SRCG &userGroupName=erde79591 &version=1.0>. B. Parsian, Abbas, and C. Robert Cloninger. "Genetics of high-risk populations. (Addiction: Maybe It's in the Genes) (Cover Story)." //Addiction & Recovery.// v11. n6 (Nov-Dec 1991): p9(4). //Student// //Resource Center// //- Gold//. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 3 Oct. 2008 . C. Legrand, Lisa N, William G. Iacono and Matt McGue. "Predicting addiction: behavioral genetics uses twins and time to decipher the origins of addiction and learn who is most vulnerable." //American Scientist.// 93. 2 (March-April 2005): 140(8). //Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center//. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 3 Oct. 2008 http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do? &contentSet=IAC-Documents &type=retrieve &tabID=T002 &prodId=OVRC &docId=A130218706 &source=gale &srcprod=OVRC &userGroupName=erde79591 &version=1.0. D. Labouvie, Erich, Marsha E. Bates and Robert J. Pandina. "Age of first use: its reliability and predictive utility." //Journal of Studies on Alcohol.// v58. n6 (Nov 1997): p638(6). //Student// //Resource Center// //- Gold//. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 7 Oct. 2008 [|http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do? &contentSet=IAC-Documents &type=retrieve &tabID=T002 &prodId=SRC-1 &docId=A20124894 &source=gale &srcprod=SRCG &userGroupName=erde79591 &version=1.0]. 1. “Numerous Studies of normal population samples have found that initiation of drug use in adolescence follows an orderly sequential pattern” (Labouvie 1). 2. “Early use of any substance did not predict drug or alcohol abuse at age 30” (Labouvie 1). 3. “Early onset of drug use is now viewed as a risk factor for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood” (Labouvie 1). 4. “In other words, experimentation with licit and illicit drugs during adolescence is normative, and most youth do not appear to sustain any serious negative consequences from light, experimental or even heavier…” (Labouvie 2). E. "Alcohol Use; Genome study may help identify people most at risk for alcoholism." __Life Science Weekly__. 19 Sep 2006. 101. __eLibrary__. Proquest CSA. SPRINGFIELD TWP SR HIGH SCHOOL. 03 Oct 2008. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/curriculum. F. Dick, Danielle M; Agrawal, Arpana. "The Genetics of Alcohol and Other Drug Dependence." __Alcohol Health & Research World__. 01 Apr 2008. 111. __eLibrary__. Proquest CSA. SPRINGFIELD TWP SR HIGH SCHOOL. 03 Oct 2008. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/curriculum. G.  Riggs, Paula DeGraffenreid. "Drug abuse." __World Book Advanced__. 2008. 3 Oct. 2008 < http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar167210 >. H. Stoehr, James D. The neurobiology of addiction. Series in Gray matter.Philadelphia: Chelsea House, c2006. Based on this research my stance on this topic is that drug and alcohol addiction is mostly contributed to by genetics. My initial thesis is “The research conducted on twins and genes shows that drug addiction is mostly contributed to by genetics.” 1.  Scientists have defined several genes that influence the risk of addiction. a.  Support: A2 A4 A5 B3 H2     2.   People with alcoholic parents are more likely to become alcoholics. a.  Supports: B1 B2 C4 G3 H3     3.   Childhood behavior can be a predictor of addiction. a.  Supports: B4 C5 D3 G4     4.   Identical twins tend to share addiction. a.  Supports: A3 B1 C2 F2    5.  Genetics, biology, and environment all influence a person’s risk for drug addiction. a. Supports: A1 C3 C5   What did you learn from conducting this research? From conducting this research I learned that genetics play the biggest role in predicting drug addiction. What higher-order thinking skills did you employ? I had to interpret the information on some of the sources because it was very neutral and I had to pick the information that went with my argument. What research skills do you still need to improve? I need to improve my research skills by getting more sources from different places. Right now I have galenet, elibrary, and a book. What information did you think you knew before researching that turned out to be either incorrect or incomplete knowledge of your topic? So what? How do your findings fit back into the big picture of your project? How will this research help you move forward with your project?
 * 1)  “…genetics, biology, and environment all influence a person’s risk for drug addiction…” (Genetics 1).
 * 2)  “It may be hard to see how a tiny piece of DNA could influence the risk of becoming addicted. The fact is, however, that scientists have indentified several genes that can do just that” (Genetics 1).
 * 3)  “On a questionnaire in which the participants were asked to rate how “good” or “bad” the drug made them feel, the answers of the identical twins were more alike than those of the fraternal twins” (Genetics 1).
 * 4)  “Research has found that people have a greater resistance to nicotine—the addictive drug in tobacco—if they have a genetic variant that decreases the function of CYP2A6” (Genetics 1-2).
 * 5)  “This case illustrates that genetic variants can not only increase the risk of addiction, but can sometimes lower it by protecting someone from the effects of a drug…” (Genetics 2).
 * 1)  “…the best predictor of alcoholism among half-siblings was the existence of a shared alcoholic parent” (Parsian 1).
 * 2)  “…some families appeared to resemble the families of the female alcoholics whereas others resembled the families only of the male alcoholics” (Parsian 1).
 * 3)  “…most of the twin studies have found the existence of a genetic predisposition to alcoholism” (Parsian 2).
 * 4)  “The Stockholm adoption studies showed that childhood personality traits account for most of the predictable risk of adult alcoholism, most particularly the antisocial behavior in connection with type 2 alcoholism” (Parsian 4).
 * 1)  “Would specific warnings for individuals with a strong genetic vulnerability to alcoholism be more effective?” (Legrand 1).
 * 2)  “Studies of twins are particularly useful for analyzing the origins of a behavior like addiction” (Legrand 2).
 * 3)  “Psychologists can distinguish at-risk youth by their personality, family history, brainwave patterns and behavior” (Legrand 2).
 * 4)  “The father’s answer to “What is the largest amount of alcohol you ever consumed in a 24-hour period?” is highly informative: The greater the amount, the greater his children’s risk” (Legrand 2).
 * 5)  “So a genetic inclination for externalizing can lead to addiction, hyperactivity, acting-out behavior, criminality, a sensation-seeking personality or all of these things” (Legrand 4).
 * 6)  “The high heritability of externalizing behaviors suggests that the second twin, if not alcoholic, may be antisocial or dependent on another substance” (Legrand 5).
 * 1)  “Previous studies established that alcoholism runs in families, but this research has given us the most extensive catalogue yet of the genetic variations that may contribute to the hereditary nature of this disease” (Alcohol 1).
 * 2)  “US NIDA researchers found genetic variations clustered around 51 defined chromosomal regions that may play roles in alcohol addiction” (Alcohol 1).
 * 3)  “…to the idea that common genetic variants are involved in human vulnerability to substance abuse” (Alcohol 1).
 * 4)  “The observations from this study provide a graphic display of the close relationships between genetic vulnerability to alcoholism and genetic vulnerability to other addictions” (Alcohol 2).
 * 5)  “Ongoing and future studies will help us to identify how the variations in these candidate genes contribute to differences in addiction vulnerability” (Alcohol 2).
 * 6)  “We know that vulnerabilities to substance abuse involve complex traits with strong genetic influences” (Alcohol 2).
 * 1)  “ **Alcohol**  dependence and dependence on other drugs frequently co-occur, and strong evidence suggests that both disorders are, at least in part, influenced by  **genetic**  factors” (Dick 1).
 * 2)  “Indeed, studies using twins suggest that the overlap between dependence on    **alcohol**   and on other drugs largely results from shared   **genetic**   factors” (Dick 1).
 * 3)  “For example, family, twin, and adoption studies have convincingly demonstrated that genes contribute to the development of    **alcohol**   dependence, with heritability estimates ranging from 50 to 60 percent for both men and women” (Dick 1).
 * 4)  “The idea that    **alcohol**   and drug dependence share a   **genetic**   liability with each other, as well as with other forms of externalizing psychopathology, is further supported by electrophysiological studies recording the brain's electrical activity” (Dick 1).
 * 5)   “With robust evidence indicating that genes influence both   **alcohol**  dependence and dependence on illicit drugs, efforts now are underway to identify specific genes involved in the development of these disorders. This identification, however, is complicated by many factors. For example, numerous genes are thought to contribute to a person's susceptibility to  **alcohol**   and/or drug dependence, and affected people may carry different combinations of those genes” (Dick 2).
 * 1)  “ **Drug abuse** is the nonmedical use of a drug that interferes with a healthy and productive life. Drug abuse occurs at all economic levels of society, from the wealthy to the impoverished, and among young people as well as adults. Any drug may be abused, including tobacco, alcohol, medications, and substances that give off intoxicating fumes. Drug abuse is often called //substance abuse// or //substance dependence,// which together are called //substance use disorders” (Riggs 1).//
 * 2) // “ // Some of the most commonly abused drugs can be purchased legally by adults. They include (1) alcoholic beverages, (2) tobacco products, (3) inhalants, and (4) prescription drugs” (Riggs 1).
 * 3) // “ // If many family members and relatives abuse drugs or alcohol, this may indicate that genetic factors play a role in increasing their risk of developing drug abuse” (Riggs 6).
 * 4) // “ // Toddlers and young children who are highly aggressive and have other behavior problems may also be at higher risk to develop a substance use disorder” (Riggs 6).
 * 5) // “ // Most people who experiment with drugs or alcohol do not become addicted. However, repeated use of nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs may lead to physiological and psychological dependence, commonly known as addiction” (Riggs 1).
 * 1)  “Our genes not only determine our height, eye, and hair color, but also our tendency to engage in compulsive behaviors” (Stoehr 66).
 * 2)  “Overall, (studies) suggest that genetics contribute to approximately 50 to 60% of all cases of addiction” (Stoehr 67).
 * 3)  “…if one of your parents is an alcoholic, your chances of becoming an alcoholic increase by one-third” (Stoehr 67).
 * 4)  “…these genes encode for proteins in cells located in the ventral tegmental dopaminergic system, particularly dopamine receptors” (Stoehr 67).
 * 5)  “It is hypothesized that individuals with these genes have exaggerated positive responses to their initial exposures to drugs or alcohol” (Stoehr 67).
 * // Connections to the Overall Project (5 pts)  //**