Relationships between genes and behavior are extremely complex. Although most scientists who work in the field of 'behavioral genomics' are cautious in their claims, too often journalists are not. In fact, simplification and exaggeration are the rule, not the exception. Here are some recent examples:
* The Investing Gene. Jason Zweig, a personal finance columnist at the Wall Street Journal and author of Your Money and Your Brain: How The New Science Of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich, wrote under the headline, "Is Your Investing Personality in Your DNA?"
Maybe your DNA made you do it.
Whatever investing mistake you have committed lately, there is probably a gene that is often associated with that behavior. Are you predestined to be the prisoner of your genetic code?
* The Picky Eater Gene. The New York Times reported that aversion to new foods is 78% genetic. "The message to parents: It's not your cooking, it's your genes."
* The Virginity Gene. A researcher has studied twins to determine if there is a relationship between genes and the age of one's first sexual encounter, and claims to have found that genetics account for 30% of the variance. The researcher said, "It's not like there's a gene for having a sex at a certain date." Nevertheless, headlines included:
* The Happiness Gene. An all-too-typical article on a widely reported recent genetic association ran under the headline "Happiness all in the genes: study":
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane have found our personalities and happiness are largely hereditary and that genetically-determined personality traits affect our happiness.
* The Popularity Gene. Scientific American leads an article, headlined "Do our genes make us popular?," with
Always the last one picked for kickball? Never get invites to the hottest parties? Blame Mom and Dad.
That's right, a new study says genes may influence whether or not you're popular.
That's just one of at least 156 news articles (found via Google News at the time) on the research.
* The American Exceptionalism Gene. Conservative pundit Michael Medved asserted that various peculiar American cultural characteristics, including our economic success, are due to genetic differences.
* And my personal favorite, the Ruthless Dictator Gene: Nature opens a news article with this:
Could a gene be partly responsible for the behaviour of some of the worlds most infamous dictators?
Selfish dictators may owe their behaviour partly to their genes, according to a study that claims to have found a genetic link to ruthlessness. The study might help to explain the money-grabbing tendencies of those with a Machiavellian streak - from national dictators down to 'little Hitlers' found in workplaces the world over.
