Can't Quit Smoking? Blame Your Genes.

If you've been on every patch, chewed every gum, tried out hypnosis, watched the cancerous lung slideshow put together by your health teacher, and still can't seem to quit smoking, a recent study may provide a reason why. Your ability to quit smoking could be determined by your genes. Thanks, mom.

A recent study published in Translational Psychiatry has established a link between quitting smoking and DNA among caucasians. Researchers looked at 22 studies taking into account 11 ,075 subjects in and found the DRD2/ANKK1 gene showed certain variants can cause a person to be more or less likely to give up smoking. Basically, people with the A2/A2 genotype are more likely to quit smoking, while those who carry A1/A1 or A1/A2 are less likely to quit.

But again, the connection could only be firmly established in caucasians, which means for a whole lot of the world there was not a strong connection. Still, "It's in my DNA" is fun to say and a good way to rationalize your mid-dinner smoke breaks during the next holiday get-together. Just make sure to take deep breaths between words, since, well, smoking's bad for you.

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Kara King is a News Writer at Thrillist and social smoking is not the same, right? Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow her at @karatillie.