A fictional gene
"The Rage gene": truth or fiction?
Kirill Stasevich, Compulenta
Studies on the "rage gene", in most cases, give wishful thinking and do not meet strict criteria. But the specifics of the topic provide such "works" with constant popularity.
The successes of molecular biology have one major side effect, which is expressed in the fact that genes are the cause of everything in the world – mathematical abilities, love of chess, dislike of classical vocals, cravings for alcohol, and so on, and so on. At the same time, such "genes" often turn out to be nothing more than rhetorical figures with roots in not the most conscientious scientific research. One of the clearest examples is the so–called rage gene.
According to John Horgan, a columnist for Scientific American magazine, the buzz around this gene is great even by the standards of general "genetic madness". Shows with the participation of media psychologists demonstrate to the most respectable public people "with increased aggressiveness", after which a genetic test conducted again in front of the people reveals the notorious "rage gene" in the heroes of the program. "But don't be afraid," the local Malakhov smiles happily into the camera, "if you have this gene, it's not a sentence, but just an indication that you should avoid situations that provoke you to lose control and aggressive behavior." Contact details of commercial laboratories are immediately given, which will gladly – and for your money – check whether you are genetically similar to the famous Scandinavian berserkers who tore opponents with their bare hands in battle. ("Bare Hands" we will leave the berserkers on the conscience of the author – VM.)
Meanwhile, the history of the rage gene is an exceptional example of scientific assumptions, guesses and bad statistics. It all started in the 1990s, when the gene of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) was discovered (this enzyme regulates the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin in the brain). The gene for this protein is located – attention – on the sex X chromosome. The first statistics were obtained on the material of a Danish family in which all the men did something, but distinguished themselves: two were arsonists, the third ran over his boss's car, another raped his sister and tried to stab a warden in a mental hospital with a fork. All had an exceptionally vicious character, were slightly retarded in development, and all lacked the MOAO enzyme, which indicated a defect in the corresponding gene.
A little later, an allele of this gene was discovered – MOAO-L. It gave a lower level of the enzyme, and its carriers were again distinguished by aggressiveness. This correlation became especially noticeable if it was sought among people with some kind of childhood trauma. The MOAO-L gene was found in monkeys, which allowed it to be associated with human development and social relations: the usual MOAO gene suppressed aggression, its MOAO-L variant contributed to aggressiveness. Finally, in 2004, this phrase was first heard from the pages of the journal Science: "the rage gene".
Race statistics have also arrived. In 2007, New Zealand researchers reported that the "rage gene", MAOA-L, is carried by 56% of Maori men. It was immediately mentioned that "the Maori have always been fearless warriors." The statistics themselves looked like this: 46 men were included in the study, sometimes only one of their parents belonged to the mentioned tribe. The same authors reported that the occurrence of this gene in Europeans is approximately 34%, in blacks – 59%, in Mongoloids – 77%.
In 2009, criminologists from the University of Florida reported that the MOAO-L gene is characteristic of street gang members. However, at the same time they ignored the "trifling" fact that most of the carriers of this gene did not belong to any gangs at all, and besides, only 40% of street bandits had MOAO-L in their genome.
Finally, in the same 2009, the main work dedicated to the "gene of rage" appeared, as it is believed. Its authors set up a psychological experiment, during which the participants received some amount of money. At the same time, some of the subjects believed that their colleagues were deceiving them, which aroused "behavioral aggression" in them. The measure of the latter was the desire to imperceptibly feed the deceiver with hot sauce. The more aggressive subjects had a "rage gene" in their genome. An article published in the journal PNAS opened the way for the "rage gene" to the interested public.
But even if you close your eyes to the more than strange definition of behavioral aggression, mixed up in "hot sauce", the publication offers equally shaky statistics for those bold conclusions that are made there. The study involved 70 people, half of them had this gene. 75% of this half showed "aggression" when it seemed to them that they were being deceived. However, the same "aggression" was shown by 62% who did not have the "rage gene". Moreover, when the subjects were cheated for a smaller amount, there were no behavioral differences between the two groups at all.
As it often happens (and in this case it is very noticeable), the "yellow roasting" of the topic makes you forget about such boring things as statistical error, statistical unreliability of differences and incorrect formulation of the experiment. In addition, if the calculations of those who analyzed the distribution of the "rage gene" by race are correct, then China should have simply torn itself apart from "innate rage".
Most likely, the "rage gene" can be put with a clear conscience in the same glorious line in which the "homosexuality gene", the "faith gene", the "high IQ gene", the "alcoholism gene", the "gambling gene" and the "liberalism gene" are already located. All these "genes", including the "rage gene", grew out of two factors. The first is the relentless search for coincidences between thousands of genes and thousands of signs that lead to false positive results, especially if such vague and ambiguous concepts as "childhood trauma" and "aggressiveness" are chosen as a sign. The second factor is the relentless interest of the media in such "psychogenetic" topics, starting with serious scientific journals and ending with Malakhov ones.
Modern studies of the "rage gene" make us recall the works of the 1960s, when - you will laugh – they also discovered the "rage gene". This was due to the discovery of the XYY syndrome. Nine men were found to have an extra Y chromosome and instantly linked it to the violent behavior of the owners. (Recall that the "rage gene" MOAO-L is located on the X chromosome.) There was nothing surprising in the coincidence: all nine were patients of the department for the raving mad in a psychiatric clinic. Further research was carried out again in hospitals and prisons, where sometimes there were "supersamets". Then, as you might guess, a wave of magazine publications, books, films and TV shows followed. In 1993, an article was published in the collection Understanding and Preventing Violence, published under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, among others, which claimed that there was no correlation between an extra Y chromosome and aggressiveness. After all, XYY syndrome occurs in one man out of a thousand. But it was too late: the "aggressiveness" of the extra chromosome has firmly entered the mass consciousness.
The trouble is that such studies, in which, according to the proverb, they are looking "not where they have lost, but where it is light", and the hype accompanying any interesting "genetic" topic, are not so harmless. And all this is dangerous not only for the scientific community itself. Scientists already know that complex consequences come from complex causes, no matter what the "social environment" says. But the same "environment", having torn off the backs from the TV, successfully begins to apply convenient simplifications in everyday life. It is easy to imagine a racist slogan calling for the extermination of Blacks and Chinese because of their aggressiveness and danger to the white race. But if, fortunately, such a thing only has to be imagined, then the use of pop genetics to mitigate the sentence seems to be becoming common practice.
One can only regret that scientific progress is always accompanied, as a by-product, by a rich set of the latest superstitions.
Based on the materials of Scientific American: John Horgan, Code rage: The "warrior gene" makes me mad! (Whether I have it or not).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru28.04.2011