Gene of the Week: Being a Gangsta
Posted by Osagie Obasogie June 20, 2009
Biopolitical Times
A recent article in Comprehensive Psychology found that males with a particular variant of the MAOA gene are twice as likely to be in a gang and are more likely to use a weapon. Biosocial criminologist Kevin Beaver came to this conclusion after studying the genotypes of thousands of adolescents in a long-term health study. With the requisite hedging, Beaver nonetheless told the New Scientist: “This gene is predicting gang membership, but it’s really predicting it for the very violent gang members.”
More to come, I’m sure.