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 | | From: | habshi | | Subject: | Do criminals lack the gene for altruism ? | | Date: | Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:06:20 GMT |
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 | If so , it may not be their fault , but that of non existent
god . Viral therapy could carry the gene to the prisoners
Israeli researchers find 'altruism gene'
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
The first gene linked to altruistic behavior has been identified by
Israeli psychologists who believe it boosts receptors for the
neurotransmitter dopamine, which gives the brain a good feeling.
The discovery of the gene variant on chromosome No. 11 is reported in
the advance on-line edition of the journal Molecular Psychiatry
(nature.com/mp) by Prof. Richard Ebstein, a psychologist, and
colleagues at the Hebrew University and Herzog Memorial Hospital in
Jerusalem. The "scientific correspondence" will appear in the printed
journal in a month or so.
Ebstein, who headed a team that in the 1990s discovered a "risk-taking
gene," told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the source of
altruism – in which someone sacrifices his own interests to benefit
others – has been an important question in evolutionary theory for
many years.
Even Charles Darwin dealt with it, he said. One would not expect
altruism to have an evolutionary benefit because the altruistic person
promotes other people's survival by taking risks that could endanger
his own. Ebstein discussed the matter with his students in an
evolutionary psychology course and then launched the genetic study.
Higher animals can show altruistic behavior, said Ebstein, but it is
almost always for members of their family, whom they identify by odors
and other signals. But altruistic behavior is very prominent in human
behavior.
Ebstein and colleagues took blood samples from 354 families with
multiple siblings and asked them questions to rate them on the
Selflessness Scale, a measure of altruistic behavior. Their answers
were completely anonymous, thus they did not benefit from describing
themselves. "Depending on self-reporting could present some problems,
but we are working to confirm our findings by conducting economic
games with reward and punishment to see if people display altruistic
behavior and then to test them for the gene variant."
He is also considering the possibility of looking for the gene in
groups of people who clearly exhibit altruistic behavior, such as Yad
Sarah, Magen David Adom or Zaka (Disaster Victims Identification)
volunteers.
Ebstein said about two-thirds of the random sample carry the altruism
gene. Interestingly, the risk-taking gene, which is linked to a
tendency for taking drugs, smoking and other dangerous behavior, is a
different – or opposite – variant of the altruism gene. Instead of
promoting dopamine expression, the risk-taking gene variant reduces
it.
"This may mean that people who don't get enough dopamine in their
brains seek out drugs or other such means to get a 'high,'" Ebstein
suggested. "Dopamine probably plays a key role in pro-social behavior.
People with the altruism gene may do good works because they get more
of a thrill out of their good works."
Ebstein is certain that this is only the first altruism gene, and that
several others exist. "I think genes have only half of the influence
on altruistic behavior, with the rest involving environmental factors,
such as education."
In this study, said Ebstein, "we did not fine this altruism gene more
common in women than in men," despite their roles as caregivers and
their prominence in caregiving professions.
Anorexic women score high on the Selflessness Scale. "They may take
altruism to an extreme, eating minimally to 'sacrifice' food for other
people."
Religiously observant people tend to score higher on the scale, he
continued, apparently due to the value put on altruism and doing good
deeds in religious education and religion itself.
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