This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2001 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Montreal, Canada. The chairs were Alan Cahill and Carol C. Cunningham. The presentations were (1) Mitochondrial regulation of ethanol-induced hepatocyte apoptosis: possible involvement of proapoptotic Bcl-2 family protein Bax, by Masayuki Adachi and Hiromasa Ishii; (2) Effects of ethanol on mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and oxidative protein modification, by Shannon M. Bailey; (3) Acute ethanol binges elicit widespread oxidative mitochondrial DNA damage and depletion: protective effects of antioxidants and inhibitors of ethanol metabolism, by Bernard Fromenty; and (4) Effects of chronic ethanol consumption upon hepatic mtDNA oxidative modification and depletion, by Alan Cahill and Adrian Davies.