#Serial killer gene how to

Genes vs the environmental factors in violent behaviorĪlthough it’s clear that the Finnish researchers believe their findings unequivocally, they also appear to understand the unhappy history of attempts to find genetic explanations for crime and violence. I will ignore it for the rest of this piece because I want to focus on MAOA and its long history of being connected with aggressive behavior. So far as I know, this is the first time it has been associated with violent criminality. Previous research has linked it with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, schizophrenia, substance abuse or bipolar disorder. Find details in John Gever’s piece at MedPage Today.ĬDH13 is involved in signaling between cells. It showed that Finnish criminals convicted of several violent crimes frequently possessed either MAOA-L or a mutant version of another gene, CDH13, while the nonviolent controls did not. The most recent appearance of MAOA-L is a paper Molecular Psychiatry published a week ago from a host of researchers based mostly in Finland. This I learned from John Horgan’s fine rant about the exploitation of MAOA genetics at Scientific American, which describes weaknesses in the research. It has been a media favorite ever since, acquiring the nickname “warrior gene” in 2004 as a result of an article in Science, of all places. MAOA was the first candidate gene to be linked to antisocial behavior, identified in 1993 in a large Dutch family that was notorious for violence. The variants, known collectively as MAOA-L, produce human MAOA “knockouts” with a low level of the enzyme. The so-called warrior gene comprises particular variations in the X chromosome gene that produces monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), an enzyme that affects the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.

#Serial killer gene how to

We need to get serious about figuring out how to interfere with noxious genetic susceptibilities in ways that are fair and decent for everybody. The usual response, picking holes in individual research projects, denying that genes are ever involved in bad behavior, is just not good enough. This new research on a gene long associated with aggressive behavior raises an old question: What can–or should–be done about genetic predispositions that lead to grim social consequences in only some of the people with the predisposing genes? Is the Genetic Literacy Project a corporate ‘front’? GLP responds to ongoing false allegations from US Right to Know / Organic Consumers Association / SourceWatch / Baum Hedlund / Church of Scientology.Copyright and Repostings, Privacy Policy, Editorial Ethics and Corrections.Mission, Financial Transparency and Governance.