Study of 5-HTTLPR and rs25531 to Identify Allele Variants of Offenders Charged with Driving while Intoxicated and Driving under the Influence

Serotonin, also referred to as 5-hydroxytryptamine, is a neurotransmitter which plays a critical role in behavioral and genetics studies. The 5-hydroxytryptamine-transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), present in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene, can have varying number of repeats. In addition, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs25531, is present within the repeats. A novel assay was designed to genotype 5-HTTLPR and its SNP variant in a single capillary electrophoretic injection. A total of 1 00 samples received from the Center for Alcohol and Drug Studies at San Diego State University Research Foundation were successfully genotyped.