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Date Posted: 00:35:27 11/14/04 Sun
Author: Lijdrec
Author Host/IP: ca-02.cinergycom.net / 216.135.2.29
Subject: Oh boy.... now the "god gene"
In reply to: Lijdrec 's message, "Re: Final Draft" on 22:52:18 11/09/04 Tue

'God gene' discovered by scientist behind gay DNA theory

By Elizabeth Day -- telegraph.co.uk - (Filed: 14/11/2004)

Religious belief is determined by a person's genetic make-up according to a study by a leading scientist.



After comparing more than 2,000 DNA samples, an American molecular geneticist has concluded that a person's capacity to believe in God is linked to brain chemicals.

His findings were criticised last night by leading clerics, who challenge the existence of a "god gene" and say that the research undermines a fundamental tenet of faith - that spiritual enlightenment is achieved through divine transformation rather than the brain's electrical impulses.

Dr Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute in America, asked volunteers 226 questions in order to determine how spiritually connected they felt to the universe. The higher their score, the greater a person's ability to believe in a greater spiritual force and, Dr Hamer found, the more likely they were to share the gene, VMAT2.

Studies on twins showed that those with this gene, a vesicular monoamine transporter that regulates the flow of mood-altering chemicals in the brain, were more likely to develop a spiritual belief.

Growing up in a religious environment was said to have little effect on belief. Dr Hamer, who in 1993 claimed to have identified a DNA sequence linked to male homosexuality, said the existence of the "god gene" explained why some people had more aptitude for spirituality than others.

"Buddha, Mohammed and Jesus all shared a series of mystical experiences or alterations in consciousness and thus probably carried the gene," he said. "This means that the tendency to be spiritual is part of genetic make-up. This is not a thing that is strictly handed down from parents to children. It could skip a generation - it's like intelligence."

His findings, published in a book, The God Gene: How Faith Is Hard-Wired Into Our Genes, were greeted sceptically by many in the religious establishment.

The Rev Dr John Polkinghorne, a fellow of the Royal Society and a Canon Theologian at Liverpool Cathedral, said: "The idea of a god gene goes against all my personal theological convictions. You can't cut faith down to the lowest common denominator of genetic survival. It shows the poverty of reductionist thinking."

The Rev Dr Walter Houston, the chaplain of Mansfield College, Oxford, and a fellow in theology, said: "Religious belief is not just related to a person's constitution; it's related to society, tradition, character - everything's involved. Having a gene that could do all that seems pretty unlikely to me."

Dr Hamer insisted, however, that his research was not antithetical to a belief in God. He pointed out: "Religious believers can point to the existence of god genes as one more sign of the creator's ingenuity - a clever way to help humans acknowledge and embrace a divine presence."

...

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[> [> [> [> [> [> [> Re: Final Draft -- Lij, 17:03:23 01/23/05 Sun (ca-01.cinergycom.net/216.135.2.28)

And another.....

Gene Scan Suggests Homosexuality Origin

David Ryan Alexander, PlanetOut Network
Friday, January 21, 2005 / 04:27 PM

A new genetic study released Jan. 12 claims to "help explain why some men are gay and other men are heterosexual." The study, published in the biomedical journal Human Genetics, analyzed 456 individuals from 146 unrelated families with two or more gay brothers and claims to be the first full genome scan of sexual orientation in men.

"We found three chromosomal regions that are likely to have genes within them that influence sexual orientation," said Brian Mustanski of the University of Illinois, one of the six scientists from a number of institutions who conducted the study.

"I think we essentially found these regions that are likely to influence sexual orientation," Mustanski said. "We found some genes that influence hormones and brain development. The next step is to look at specific genes in a new family sample to see if those are the exact genes that affect sexual orientation."

The study also stated that "given the complexity of sexual orientation, numerous genes are likely to be involved, many of which are expected to be autosomal (or of a non-sex chromosome) than sex-linked." In previous studies regarding gay male twins, the report said, only limited connection could be made showing male sexual orientation as being inherited from the X-chromosome, or sex chromosome.

"Previous research had looked exclusively at the X-chromosome," Mustanski said, "and found that the region right at the tip of the X-chromosome may influence sexual orientation."

The current study sought to provide a scan analyzing both sex and non-sex chromosomes to identify all genes that potentially contribute to variation in sexual orientation.

Mustanski compared the study to finding one person in a town of 40,000 people. "You make some assumptions about where they might be, knocking on one door on every street," he said. "You're going to narrow it down considerably."

According to Mustanski another study exploring the genetics of sexual orientation is currently being conducted, and he assumed its researchers would incorporate these new findings into their study, but it will still probably be years until that report is completed.

As for exactly what locating these genes would mean, Mustanski said, "Finding the specific genes would have implications beyond uncovering the cause of homosexuality. Their identification would also greatly advance our understanding of human variation, evolution and brain development."

Mustanski also placed importance on studies focusing on women. "As with many things," he said, "females tend to be studied last and it would be important to start looking at female sexuality."

http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2005/01/21/5


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