September 23, 2010 - The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has recently given a grant to GeneGo, Inc., a company which develops systems biology technology, to develop biology platform research on the causes and treatment of tobacco dependence, nicotine addiction, smoking cessation, and tobacco and nicotine withdrawal.  GeneGo will specifically use these funds to create a systems biology tool-set which will be used to study the biological pathways that are involved in nicotine addiction and withdrawal as well as controlling regions in the human genome that might affect a person’s response to nicotine.  The company will also research new avenues for the treatment of tobacco dependence such as, new targets, therapeutic strategies, and biomarkers.  Director of Toxicology at GeneGo, Richard Brennan, explains, “A holistic understanding of the complex biological pathways involved in the pharmacological and addictive effects of nicotine is needed to better understand and treat the causes of addiction and symptoms of withdrawal to help those who want to quit be successful.”  With support from NIDA, GeneGo’s research may help to shed light on innovative strategies that can be used for tobacco control.

For more information please visit: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/genego-awarded-nida-grant-to-develop-platform-for-research-on-nicotine-addiction-103513574.html