英国杂志《自然·遗传学》网络版25日刊登的三份研究报告显示，开始吸烟、吸烟上瘾、戒烟等行为在很大程度上与基因有关。
调查人员查阅了14万名烟民和非烟民的基因组记录，结果发现，第11号染色体上的一种变异基因与一个人是否吸第一支烟存在很大关联；第9号染色体上的一种变异基因与能否戒烟有关。
在烟民中，如果一个人的第8号染色体和第19号染色体存在变异基因，那么此人平日里吸烟数量更多，罹患肺癌的可能性也比其他烟民高10％。
专门从事基因组数据挖掘的冰岛基因解码公司负责人卡里·斯特凡松说；“吸烟对每一个人的健康都有害，对某些人伤害更大，新发现让我们有更多能力去识别这部分人，也提供了令人信服的理由说服他们戒烟。”
斯特凡松说，尽管人们在半个多世纪前就知道吸烟与肺癌存在关联，但眼下变异基因与癌变之间的关联还有待研究。
美国《科学公共图书馆·医学》杂志2007年刊登的一份报告预测，到2015年，全球因吸烟而过早死亡的人数将升至640万人，这一数字到2030年将增至830万人。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Nature Genetics doi:10.1038/ng.571
Genome-wide meta-analyses identify multiple loci associated with smoking behavior
The Tobacco and Genetics Consortium
Consistent but indirect evidence has implicated genetic factors in smoking behavior1, 2. We report meta-analyses of several smoking phenotypes within cohorts of the Tobacco and Genetics Consortium (n = 74,053). We also partnered with the European Network of Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology (ENGAGE) and Oxford-GlaxoSmithKline (Ox-GSK) consortia to follow up the 15 most significant regions (n > 140,000). We identified three loci associated with number of cigarettes smoked per day. The strongest association was a synonymous 15q25 SNP in the nicotinic receptor gene CHRNA3 (rs1051730[A], β = 1.03, standard error (s.e.) = 0.053, P = 2.8 × 10?73). Two 10q25 SNPs (rs1329650[G], β = 0.367, s.e. = 0.059, P = 5.7 × 10?10; and rs1028936[A], β = 0.446, s.e. = 0.074, P = 1.3 × 10?9) and one 9q13 SNP in EGLN2 (rs3733829[G], β = 0.333, s.e. = 0.058, P = 1.0 × 10?8) also exceeded genome-wide significance for cigarettes per day. For smoking initiation, eight SNPs exceeded genome-wide significance, with the strongest association at a nonsynonymous SNP in BDNF on chromosome 11 (rs6265[C], odds ratio (OR) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.04–1.08, P = 1.8 × 10?8). One SNP located near DBH on chromosome 9 (rs3025343[G], OR = 1.12, 95% Cl 1.08–1.18, P = 3.6 × 10?8) was significantly associated with smoking cessation.
