F1 RNA sequencing from high drinking rats and low drinking rats cross

Alcohol Used Disorder (AUD) leads to huge economical and emotional cost in human society. Understanding the complex interactions between the genetics of the individual and their environment is critical to treat and prevent this disease, but difficult to achieve in humans due to the nature and nurture of drinking choice. To uncover the genetic contribution on AUD, we treated the offspring generated from the cross of high drinking rats and low drinking rats with alcohol to study the interaction between genetic and drinking. The whole transcriptome sequenced in the offspring that had either free access to ethanol or water was interrogated. We identified genes that were differentially expressed of one of the copies from parents over the other as influenced by the factors–– alcohol drinking, the level of drinking, gender, and parental of origin. These results demonstrated major factors influencing a predisposition for, and the development of AUDs.