Extreme gene therapy treatment for alcoholism slashes drinking by 90% in monkeys

It's about time.*

From BigThink, August 26:

• Chronic alcohol use causes the brain to produce and process less dopamine, and this persistent dopamine deficit has been linked to relapse.
• A team of U.S. researchers suspected that an in-development gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease might work as a dopamine-replenishing treatment for alcoholism, too.
• To find out, they tested it in heavy-drinking monkeys — and the animals’ alcohol consumption dropped by 90% over the course of a year.  

A single shot — a gene therapy injected into the brain — dramatically reduced alcohol consumption in monkeys that previously drank heavily. If the therapy is safe and effective in people, it might one day be a permanent treatment for alcoholism for people with no other options.

The challenge: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) means a person has trouble controlling their alcohol consumption, even when it is negatively affecting their life, job, or health.

Chronic alcohol use causes the brain to produce, and process, less dopamine.

In the U.S., more than 10% of people over the age of 12 are estimated to have AUD, and while medications, counseling, or sheer willpower can help some stop drinking, staying sober can be a huge struggle — an estimated 40-60% of people relapse at least once.

According to the CDC, more than 140,000 Americans are dying each year from alcohol-related causes, and the rate of deaths has been rising for years, especially during the pandemic.

The idea: For occasional drinkers, alcohol causes the brain to release more dopamine, a chemical that makes you feel good. Chronic alcohol use, however, causes the brain to produce, and process, less dopamine, and this persistent dopamine deficit has been linked to alcohol relapse....

....MUCH MORE

*I, for one, was already growing increasingly concerned about the primates.

• Following Up On "Commodity traders superior to chimpanzees": The Importance of Pockets
• Monkeys Beat Cap Weighted Indices
• "Coronavirus: Monkeys 'escape with COVID-19 samples' after attacking lab assistant"
• "Thousands of sex-mad monkeys overrun city and eat themselves to death as cops admit they are powerless to control them" 
• Breaking Quarantine: "Baboon ready for vasectomy escapes with 2 female pals"
  
• Intellectual Property: "Judge says monkey cannot own copyright to famous selfies"
• 2020: "Motorcycle-Riding Monkey Tries Kidnapping Small Child ... In Indonesian Alley "—UPDATED
• "How scientists taught monkeys the concept of money. Not long after, the first prostitute monkey appeared"
• "Baboons 'carrying knives and chainsaw' spotted in safari park"

And then you add in primate potables:

• "Alcoholic killer monkey leaves one man dead and 250 injured...."
• "Vineyard-Raiding Baboons Favor Pinot Noir"
• Feral Herpes-Ridden Florida Monkeys Now Leaping Out of Trees 

That last link in particular, like some demented para-scuba aquatic version of the flying monkeys of Oz should really hammer home the point, do not flush your meth into the sewer every time you hear a knock at the door you paranoid Florida idiots.