Insights from a Drunk Worm.

PHYSIOLOGICAL effects of alcohol; NEMATODES; ANIMAL experimentation; TOXICOLOGY of alcohol; ALCOHOL drinking; ALCOHOL intolerance; METABOLIC disorders; COMPLICATIONS of alcoholism; NERVOUS system; BRENNER, Sydney, 1927-2019; SULSTON, John, 1942-2018

The article presents information on a study conducted on worms to provide fresh insights into how alcohol works on the nervous system, and to separate the biological and social effects of alcohol. The study was conducted by scientists Sydney Brenner, John Sulston and John White on C. elegans, a small (1 mm) free-living soil nematode that is found all over the world. The relevance of the study can be garnered from the fact that synaptic transmission--the process by which one nerve releases a chemical signal to communicate with a downstream nerve--appears to occur in a nearly identical manner in worms and humans. The C. elegans were used as a genetic system to determine which proteins are important in the living animal for alcohol to bring about intoxication. As part of the research, mutations were generated randomly by treating worms with a chemical mutagen. According to a study, mutations affect only three genes that led to moderate or strong resistance to the effect of alcohol on locomotion. The changes that occur in the nervous system of the worms during acute tolerance may reflect some of the changes that occur in the brain of an alcoholic.