by Mine G.
"We used to think that our fate was in our stars, but now we know that, in large measure, our fate is in our genes."
-James D. Watson
The world that we live on now has become a crime pool. We see murders, robberies, domestic violence news on TV everyday. It happens around us no matter where or who we are.
Today, when I received an e-mail from the campus police indicating a robbery, I wondered the reason why crime rates have been increasing. While doing a bit of research about it, I actually came across a fact which I was shocked by: Warrior Gene.
Is crime really a drive that the genes encode?
First off, let's look at what "Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)" as known as warrior gene is. It is placed on the X-chromosome, and affects the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. It has been showed by the studies that warrior gene plays an important role on people's aggressive behaviors.
According to a Molecular Psychiatry article, a study done with the participation of almost 900 Finnish offenders in 2014, indicates that up to 10% of the crimes in Finland can be associated with MAOA and variants of CDH13 genes. "Offenders who had committed 10 or more serious violent crimes were significantly more like to carry one of several loss-of-function variants in the MAOA gene or a variant in the CDH13 gene versus participants in population-based survey studies in Finland who were considered representative of the general population." says John Gever, in his article called "Genetic Factors Tied to Violent Behaviors."
However, even though genes play a considerable role in violence, it is not the only aspect. Violence is a phenomenon that involves the combination of genetic determinism, environment and psychological elements. Jan Schnupp says that "to call these alleles 'genes for violence' would therefore be a massive exaggeration. In combination with many other factors these genes may make it a little harder for you to control violent urges, but they most emphatically do not predetermine you for a life of crime."
Aggression and crime are serious issues of the 21st century world. Although violence is partially explained with the genetic determinism by some scientists, it should always be remembered that environment has a huge impact on crime as well. It might be impossible to change the genes' encoding for now, but there is always a chance to make the world far removed from violence.
So, why don't we start making a difference right here, right now?
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Image: PHOTO BY ABODE OF CHAOS, VIA FLICKR
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/files/2014/06/dna-shackles.jpg
References: Powledge, T. M. (2014, November 04). Does the human "warrior gene" make violent criminals--And what should society do? | Genetic Literacy Project. Retrieved February 07, 2016, from https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/11/04/does-the-human-warrior-gene-make-violent-criminals-and-what-should-society-do/
Molecular Psychiatry (2014, October 28). Genetic Background of Extreme Violent Behavior. Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v20/n6/full/mp2014130a.html
Hogenboom, M. (2014, October 28). Two genes linked with violent crime - BBC News. Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29760212
Gever, J. (2014, October 28). Genetic Factors Tied to Violent Behaviors. Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/GeneralPsychiatry/48276?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2014-10-29
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