SCOTTISH smokers could be given a genetic test to help them to quit their nicotine habit.

Health officials in Glasgow are currently in talks over a screening test that would determine how best to help smokers quit.

One in four Scots currently smokes, and the test would work out how many out of a possible seven smoking genes each addict has.

It would then work out how the appropriate strength of nicotine replacement patch to help the smoker quit.

Professor Robert Walton, of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, says genetic variations determine why people are at risk of becoming addicted and how people will respond to different anti-smoking techniques.