If you can't quit smoking, blame your genes.
Scientists say new research reveals that a person's genetic makeup could influence their inclination to start smoking and the likelihood of them becoming addicted.
Dr. Kári Stefánsson, an executive chairman and president of research at deCODE Genetics, a biopharmaceutical company based in Iceland that aims to identify human genes associated with common diseases, told Al Jazeera the genetic makeup that makes people get hooked on cigarretes is not the same as that which makes them start smoking.
"There is a gene that makes you smoke many more cigarettes if you smoke at all, but it has no impact on whether you start to smoke or not, so the smoking initiation is one's own responsibility," he said.
[April 26, 2010]
