Interplay between heritability of smoking and environmental conditions? A comparison of two birth cohorts

Background: Attitudes and policy towards smoking changed over the past years in many countries including the Netherlands. Generally, this led to a decrease in smoking prevalence. As demonstrated in twin and family studies, individual differences in smoking behavior are partly influenced by genetic factors. We explore whether the current change in environmental conditions has influenced the genetic architecture of smoking. This would constitute evidence for Gene × Environment (G×E) interaction. Methods. Data on smoking were available from 2 cohorts of young adult twins (18-25 year) registered w... Mehr ...