Thanks to a rare bacteria that grows only on rocks in the
Swiss Alps, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the Pasteur
Institute in France have been the first to identify how alcohol might affect
key brain proteins.
It’s a major step on the road to eventually developing drugs
that could disrupt the interaction between alcohol and the brain.
“Now that we’ve identified this key brain protein and
understand its structure, it’s possible to imagine developing a drug that could
block the binding site,” said Adron Harris, professor of biology and director
of the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction at The University of Texas at
Austin.