--- title: There's a Gene Mutation That Makes You a Reckless Drunk description: New research published this week suggests there might be a genetic underlying to people who are more likely to get out of control when they drink alcohol. canonical: https://time.com/4116528/drunk-reckless-gene-mutation-study/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-19T18:36:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:09.279Z article:section: Health og:title: There's a Gene Mutation That Makes You a Reckless Drunk, Study Suggests og:description: This may be the reason why some people turn distructive when they drink og:url: https://time.com/4116528/drunk-reckless-gene-mutation-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There's a Gene Mutation That Makes You a Reckless Drunk, Study Suggests twitter:description: This may be the reason why some people turn distructive when they drink twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # There's a Gene Mutation That Makes You a Reckless Drunk, Study Suggests > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Can Red Wine Help Prevent Heart Disease? [Watch (HLS stream): Can Red Wine Help Prevent Heart Disease?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DEr6Sg3l.m3u8) (2:23)  _Published 2015-05-15. Red wine is often touted for its power to prevent heart disease. But some research suggests that other types of alcohol such as white wine and beer may be just as beneficial._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 19, 2015 6:36 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 19, 2015 6:36 PM UTC Some people are just not good drinkers—they become reckless and possibly even violent. Now [new research](http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v5/n11/full/tp2015170a.html) suggests there may be a genetic explanation for why some people are more likely to get out of control under the influence of alcohol. In the small study, published this week in the journal _Translational Psychiatry_, researchers looked at people who had a genetic variation of the serotonin 2B receptor gene HTR2B and how that influenced their behavior when they drank. The team compared 14 people with the mutation, called HTR2B Q20, to 156 people without it. The men and women self-reported their personality, aggression levels, drinking behaviors and impulsivity and aggression when under the influence of alcohol. The people who carried HTR2B Q20 were more likely to report aggressive outbursts, fights and impulsive behavior while drinking alcohol. They were also more likely to be arrested for driving while under the influence. The researchers say these people were not alcoholics based on their consumption but they had a tendency to lose control of their behavior while drinking. In addition, the men and women met with a psychiatrist in a diagnostic interview, and the researchers learned those with the mutation were more likely to have symptoms of mood disorders. The researchers say this implies that the serotonin 2B receptor also has a role in regulating people’s mood. “Very little is known about the role of the serotonin 2B receptor in humans. New knowledge in this area might open up opportunities for new \[pharmacological\] innovations since there is no FDA-approved medicine available that \[has\] a high affinity particularly for this receptor,” study author Roope Tikkanen, a psychiatrist at the University of Helsinki, told TIME over email. More research is needed, especially since the study size was small. But the researchers say their findings contribute to a behavioral and genetic understanding of impulsivity and how it plays out in different environments. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4116528/drunk-reckless-gene-mutation-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4116528/drunk-reckless-gene-mutation-study/"},"headline":"There's a Gene Mutation That Makes You a Reckless Drunk, Study Suggests","datePublished":"2015-11-19T18:36:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:09.279Z","description":"This may be the reason why some people turn destructive when they drink","url":"https://time.com/4116528/drunk-reckless-gene-mutation-study/","keywords":["Research","Alcohol"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4116528/drunk-reckless-gene-mutation-study/","name":"There's a Gene Mutation That Makes You a Reckless Drunk, Study Suggests"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Can Red Wine Help Prevent Heart Disease?","description":"Red wine is often touted for its power to prevent heart disease. 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