Coffee Drinking in Your Genes? Genetic Variants in Two Genes Linked with Caffeine Intake

In an article in ScienceDaily,  two genes were discovered to have a link to caffeine consumption.  A team of researchers from National Cancer Institute, Harvard School of Public Health Brigham and Women's hospital, and the University of North carolina at chapel hill studied the genetic variation of 47,000 americans to find the relationship between the two genes and caffeine consumption. Individuals with the highest caffeine consumption also had these genes.  The genes were identified  as CYP1A2, which was known to take part in the metabolism of caffeine and AHR involved in regulation of CYP1A2.  The individuals who consumed more caffeine than the average person consumed about 40 mg more caffeine.  Continued research can provide more information about how caffeine affects human physiology such as how long it circulates in the blood.  Not many genetic determinants of lifestyle are consistent, plus the is the first time that the entire genome is being studied for the relationship between genetics and caffeine intake.  Over 90 percent of US adults consume caffeine so this research is certainly relevant to the majority.   This study is a step in the right direction to prove that we can use todays knowledge of genetics as useful information and directly relate it to a lifestyle behavior.

 

I hope that other genetic determinants of lifestyle behaviors are found and used for genome research.  We now know a lot about genetics but we need to find ways to apply our knowledge to better the lives of everyone.  Genetics has been advertised as the secret code of life and now the scientists are faced with trying to find a way to alter or intervene health disorders with genetic information but it is more difficult than expected.  This particular experiment to me seems to fall short the genes that are linked to caffeine consumption have been linked to metabolism and regulation so it doesn't seem surprising to me that people who consume a lot of caffeine would have the CYP1A2 and AHR gene.

[caption id="attachment_4192" align="alignleft" width="800" caption="The genes AHR and CYP1A2 have been linked to people who consume on average 40mg more caffeine than the average american. "][/caption]