Some reports and articles have increasingly referred to the relation between MAO-A and MAO-B gene and anxiety, violence, and other undesirable behavior. This gene is now called the warrior gene because it is related to the violence. Other genetic diseases are related to violence as well such as Klinefelter syndrome and Jacobs syndrome.
If this information is true how can the scientific media help them to reduce these behaviors?
to me that's genecentric and slippery. Genes are better to be viewed as only part of the full story, that has to include epigenetics and environment. The social implications of genetic determinism are scary, looking to the pasts centuries with all that eugenetics and all that came after. I hope that doesn't pop up again!
Can you provide references? (I can look for mine if you like to debate them)
Thanks salvador, however several recent finding support the action of mao gene and its association with violence. Concerning Klinefelter and Jacobs syndromes, even text books reprted their implication in anxiety.
Remember that all these genetic studies are "Statistical associations". While they are good predictors, it is unwise to view such studies as positively causal. Unfortunately, such "genetic stories" are good media fodder and get undue coverage. I have not yet come across the "warrior gene" term and I will be very surprised if a geneticist came up with this term. Its best to not use such terminology when discussing scientific theory or applications.
On the other hand, MAOA and MAOB are important in the serotonin metabolism pathway and are thus good candidates for studies of personality and behavior. That is why these genes are being studied as such. Yet, it is very clear that most behaviors are complex and regulated by many , many genes, each of them with minute effects that may not be fully detected in smaller studies (those with less than 1000 subjects, for instance).
Personality/behavior studies are costly and time consuming and often cant reach the sample sizes that are needed to detect smaller or even relevant statistical effects. Then too, the statistical effect is just a pointer... not a confirmed causal association in this case.
Proving a causal association for behaviors is going to be difficult simply because such phenotypes are also under the action of a lot of environmental pressures and most studies fail to account adequately for such factors. Education and Income are just two mediators that come to mind, but so many others including childhood maltreatment, early environment, living conditions, parental education, impactful life events, prevailing social conditions (unemployment, wars, famines at any time during development) to name just a few might also have important effects, that are simply not measured in the vast majority of studies.
The best thing scientific media CAN do is provide the context within which a study was done and refrain from drawing conclusions that are simply too wild to really be true. The results from scientific studies need to be interpreted by scientists for the general public and NOT by over-enthusiastic reporters wishing to make a "good story" out of thin air and sensationalize findings unnecessarily. Unfortunately, we scientists do too little to get our stories out to the general public. This fuels misconceptions and incorrect expectations about what is possible to answer TODAY (given the state of the art sciences) and what will be possible to answer in the next few years (Given the progress of science, technology and adequate funding for research).
It is very nice from you Indrani, Studies on human behaviors need more wide studies and need team work. We as a geneticist should take this task from our point of view. Many chromosomal abnormalities are associated with mental retardation such as Downs syndrome or some other X linked disorders, therefore it is expected that genetic factors (including genes) may play a major role in human behaviors. Accordingly MAO gene problem need deep and epidemiological studies to approach the truth.
Its believe that MAO is involved in anti-social and violent behaviour. MAO has something to do with neurotransmission. It is the same genetic association studies which has validated it.
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