Eye color has appeared as a potential candidate to researchers for understanding genetic links to alcoholism. Published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, the study has showed that people with lighter eye colors have higher chances of developing alcoholism.

For the study, researchers examined genetic samples from 1,263 people with alcohol dependency and it was found that odds of developing alcoholism at a fast pace were higher for those with lighter eyes, especially blue eyes.

The finding could improve the accuracy of alcohol dependence diagnosis, said Arvis Sulovari, study author and a doctoral student in cellular, molecular and biomedical sciences at the University of Vermont.

Gaining insight into genetics related to alcoholism could someday help doctors identify people at the highest risk for certain disorders, including alcoholism, said lead author Dawei Li, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Vermont. They might be able to do it by pinning down specific genes by looking at eye color or hair color.

Li added that it is their long-term goal and it could be used in the clinic.

“What we know about alcoholism is that it’s a complex disorder. It’s one of the conditions that we know arises from combined effects of genetic variations acting together with our experiences”, Austin told ABC News.

People with light-colored eyes -- blue, green and grey and light brown in the centre -– have a higher likelihood of drinking alcohol than their counterparts with brown eyes, or darker, concluded the research.