US Patent Issued to University of Virginia Patent Foundation on Feb. 11 for "Serotonin transporter gene and treatment of opioid-related disorders" (Virginia Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,221,654, issued on Feb. 11, was assigned to University of Virginia Patent Foundation (Charlottesville, Va.).

"Serotonin transporter gene and treatment of opioid-related disorders" was invented by Bankole A. Johnson (Charlottesville, Va.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The gene responsible for encoding SERT has a functional polymorphism at the 5'-regulatory promoter region, which results in two forms, long (L) and short (S). The LL-genotype is hypothesized to play a key role in the early onset of alcohol use. The present invention discloses the differences in treatment and diagnosis based on the L or short genotypes as well as on a single ...