Can't quit smoking? Blame your genes

The number of cigarettes a person smokes a day and the difficulties they might face in giving up the habit are largely driven by their genetic make-up, scientists say.
According to new research published today, several chromosomes have genetic variants that are linked to smoking vulnerability.
Three similar papers based on studies of more than 140,000 people have been published online in the journal Nature Genetics.
Lead author Kari Stefansson, who heads up deCODE - an Icelandic company which specialises in genetic data investigation - says smoking is bad for anyone's health but "is even worse for some".
"These variances in the sequence that we have discovered do not have impact on whether you begin to smoke or not," he said.
"But if you begin to smoke, if you smoke more, [then] if you have this variance it's more difficult for you to quit.
"But it does not have an impact on whether you begin to smoke or not."
He says the research does raise possibilities of developing treatments to help people quit smoking.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/26/2882621.htm

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