Genetic Studies Poses Great Threat

In 1991, Stephen Mobley shot and murdered a pizza store manager during an armed robbery. During his trial the US lawyers requested that their client be tested for a specific genetic mutation found in monoamine oxidase; a gene which, if present, would explain his violent behavior and thus exonerate him. Two courts rejected this request because of the lack of scientific evidence for such causation. While the studies and technologies of certain scientific fields have vastly developed and been mastered, genetic studies results are still unclear when determining human behavior. Since the early 1900’s countless tests and surveys have been attempted to correlate genetics to human behaviors; since then, most results have been ineffective. Providing accurate results linking violent behaviors to genetics by comparing frontal lobes and cranial folds poses great difficulty due to the complexity of human behavior. The risk of genetics being paralleled to human behavior could lead to the stigmatization of innocent, harmless individuals. Although science has properly classified and categorized certain human behaviors (diagnoses), the reasons for these behaviors are still unconfirmed. The risk of using genetic studies to determine human behaviors are greater than the benefits.

Genetics is the study of heredity, a process where each parent passes certain genes to their offspring. During this process, 25,000 genes are passed to an offspring, which makes each process unique, in turn making every individual unique, even siblings with the same biological parents. A normal child inherits 46 total chromosome sequences; 23 from each biological parent. These chromosomes carry the genes that are passed. Chromosome sequencing isn’t always successful. Errors occur when additional genes are added or when genes are deleted, which alters the chromosomes, causing improper sequencing. These errors are known as mutations, or genetic disorders. Autism, mental retardation, Downs Syndrome, Klinefelters Syndrome, and Asperger’s Syndrome are a few genetic mutations associated with improper sequencing. These disorders have a detrimental impact to the growth and development of an offspring.

Respect to genetics researchers, a thin line is drawn between genetics and behavior. It has been stated that, along with environment, genetic makeup influences certain behaviors. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sociology professor Guang Gou and his team performed a study only in adolescent boys’ grades 7-12, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents (nationally representative of about 20,000 adolescent boys). Guos studies successfully linked 3 out of the 25,000 genes inherited by an offspring to violent and/or criminal behaviors. Genes that were affected were the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, a gene that regulates neurotransmitters; which are message carrying chemicals that play a vital role in aggression, emotion, and cognition. The mutation found in the MAOA gene is associated with adolescents repeating a grade; this disorder is known as R2, and adolescents with R2 are highly prone to violent behaviors. Researchers also discovered that the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) “seemed” to cause an adolescent to act out if he didn’t regularly have meals with his family. Guo wrote that, “if people with the same gene have a parent who has regular meals with them, then the risk is gone.” He continues to say the variants found in these genes associated with bad behavior only occurred when the boys suffered some other stress, such as family issues, low popularity, or failing school.

Nevertheless, Guo ended his research by saying it is too early to determine whether medication needed to be put in place and he is unsure if genetic defense is feasible in a court of law due to the risk of repetitiveness in behavior.

More recent studies, the state of Connecticut gave the medical examiners the job of analyzing a young man’s brain. December 2012 a young man shot and killed his mother, after doing so he drove to an elementary school armed killing a total of 26 including 20 first graders, 6 staff members before turning the gun on himself. The young man was known to have genetic disorders associated with autism and his peers remembered him as antisocial. Medical examiners concluded the research of his brain by saying they found nothing abnormal with the young mans’ brain. In the Nature article “No Easy Answer,” the author expresses his thoughts about the research associated with the massacre. “The ability to sequence DNA is many steps removed from the ability to make that sequence meaningful. Many if not most mutations are meaningless outside of narrow contexts.” The author’s words align with professor Guos’ research; things must be viewed in a narrow context because multiple things could have led this young man to commit this senseless act of violence. Nonetheless, this isn’t the first mass shooting carried out by a young white suburban male under the age of 25. In fact, most mass shooters are young white males, but does that make most young white males mass shooters?

In turn, what has the bigger impact on human behavior: genetics or environment? Both are vital factors when determining violent human behavior, but it’s obvious that day-to-day activities, living conditions, and overall environment carries more weight. Thorough background research and investigation need to be done when determining something as complex as human behavior. There are many risk factors that pose a great threat to harmless innocent individuals if researchers correlate genetics specifically to violent behaviors. When it comes to genetics things must be viewed in narrow context.