Why for someone quitting is easy, but for somebody it is simply impossible? Is it a problem of will or of anything else? Why does a non-smoker get cancer, but smokers could never get this disease?

At all this questions the response is one - the problem versus solution is in your genes. A group of US and EU researchers revealed a very interesting discovery. The reason is that every organism has its specific genes and there are genes that are responsible for smoking addiction as well. This gene is called SLC6A3-9.

“This is a kind of a double whammy gene,”' said Christopher Amos, a professor of epidemiology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and author of one of the studies. “It also makes you more likely to be dependent on smoking and less likely to quit smoking.”

It was stated that people carrying a particular version of this dopamine transporter gene begin to smoke later that those without this gene. Moreover, smokers that own that gene have more changes quitting smoking if they start then those lacking it.

Psychologist Caryn Lerman, Ph.D., of the Georgetown University Medical Center and her co-authors proved that revolutionary discovery. They confirmed for the first time link between smoking behavior and the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3-9) exists.

So, according to the study, the number of smoking individuals with SLC6A3-9 gene is much lower than that without gene. Gene bearers are able to quit for longer periods of time than other smokers.

“We found that individuals who have the SLC6A3-9 gene were one and a half times more likely to have quit smoking than individuals lacking this gene,” said Dr. Hamer. “However, SLC6A3-9 gene is not a strict determinant of the ability to quit smoking, but rather an influence on an individual's general need and responsiveness to external stimuli, of which cigarette smoking is but one example, “doctor cautioned.

This discovery will help genetics and pharmacologists to create impactful medicaments to make quitting more effective and easier.