PWS Visser 2018-2019

smoking addiction Page 11
3.2 INTERVIEW WITH PROF. DR. VERWEIJ
What is the addiction gene and is
it heritable?
The addiction gene is heritable, and
you often see in families that when a
brother, sister, father or mother is
addicted, you have a higher chance to
becoming addicted too. The o addiction
gene is not one gene, there are a lot;
hundreds and maybe thousands of little
genes and they all play a little role in an
addiction. For example, by smoking we
found a couple of pieces where we are
sure of that they do something to fortify
the addiction, such as the nicotinereceptor
gene, which is a gene that
plays a role in the adhesion of nicotine.
Everyone has this gene, but we all have
different versions of this gene. With one
version you have a bigger chance to
become an addict and with the other
version you have a minor chance of
becoming an addict. Most people who
are addicted to cigarettes, often have
that specific gene. But, because there
are hundreds of genes that play a role,
it does not mean that when you have
that one specific gene you will become
an addict. The addiction gene is not
something that exists, it is a whole
group of different genes.
Does the addiction gene have
impact on the smoking behavior of
a chain smoker?
Since it is not just one gene that
influences an addiction and it is not just
genes that influence an addiction, it is
very hard to tell. But these genes can
be fortified in combination with
environmental factors. Though, these
genes can influence how addicted
someone gets and how much you smoke.