Argument Analysis: The Search For Addiction Genes

The University of Utah states that when a scientist is searching for “addiction genes,” they are actually looking for differences in one’s genetic makeup to find genes that make the individual more susceptible to addiction. Genes are said to be a cause of addiction, but that one is not born an addict. As an individual lives, gains experience, and is exposed to the environment, a person may become an addict. Scientists have narrowed down genes that are prone to addiction by testing individuals in a large family, and finding genes similar between the addicted family members. Addicted family members may have genes, or lack genes, that eventually lead up to their addiction. People have extremely complex genomes, so scientists use mice or fruit …show more content…
My opinions are very similar to the author’s, as we both believe that addiction can run in families, and that it can be triggered by environmental factors or experiences. While the author gave a lot of insight on his/her own opinion, they did not source the facts they presented in the article, meaning they did not have anywhere to back up their knowledge. The subtopics were very short, considering this being a medical article. The majority of the topics were explained vaguely, except when the author used not-sourced facts to support their opinion. The clearest way to know that this author used their opinions to develop this article is by their frequent use of the words “most” and “never.” When writing an informative article, or essay, one does not use the word “never,” because it implies something that does not exist, as something does always occur. One must also not use the word “most,” because the word “most” contradicts the statement the author is saying. The author may not be taken literally when using this in their writing, because they are contradicting themselves. The author did use a good list of alleles that somehow have an effect on addiction, or affected by addiction. This list showed that the author had used information from a journal, diary, interview, or research, but chose not to cite the source. This also makes the source not as credible as it would be with the sources cited. Overall, I felt this article was very strong at swaying an individual to learn that genetics is somehow involved in an individual becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol. However, the article was not backed up, which makes the article not reliable. I still continue to have a similar opinion as the author, as I already had some background knowledge on the topic, and my opinion has not changed.