PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

2 genes do not make a voter

2012-03-01
(Press-News.org) DURHAM, N.C. -- Voting behavior cannot be predicted by one or two genes as previous researchers have claimed, according to Evan Charney, a Duke University professor of public policy and political science.

In "Candidate Genes and Political Behavior," a paper published in the February 2012 American Political Science Review, Charney and co-author William English of Harvard University call into question the validity of all studies that claim that a common gene variant can predict complex behaviors such as voting.

They use as an example a 2008 study by James H. Fowler and Christopher T. Dawes of the University of California, San Diego which claimed that two genes predict voter turnout. Charney and English demonstrate that when certain errors in the original study are corrected -- errors common to many gene association studies -- there is no longer any association between these genes and voter turnout.

"The study of Fowler and Dawes is wrong," Charney said. "Two genes do not predict turnout. We reran the study using all of their assumptions, equations, and data and found that their results were based upon errors they made. When we corrected the errors, there was no longer any association between these two genes and voter turnout."

Charney and English also document how the same two genes that Fowler and Dawes claimed would predict voter turnout are also said to predict, according to other recently published studies, alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease, anorexia nervosa, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, depression, epilepsy, extraversion, insomnia, migraines, narcolepsy, obesity, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, Parkinson's disease, postpartum depression, restless legs syndrome, premature ejaculation, schizophrenia, smoking, success by professional Wall Street traders, sudden infant death syndrome, suicide, Tourette syndrome, and several hundred other behaviors. They point to a number of studies that attempted to confirm these findings and could not.

"Researchers the world over are using data sets that contain behavioral information about study participants along with limited genetic data for a handful of their genes," Charney said. "Often, the genetic data contained in these various data sets is limited to the very same four or five genes. The result is that the same genes are now said to predict an astonishing array of human behavior."

"How could one common gene variant possibly predict so many diverse behaviors?" Charney asked. "And what are the odds that the very same handful of genes -- out of an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 genes -- will miraculously turn out to be the genetic key to all of human behavior?"

Charney and English also note that the underlying assumption of gene association studies is at odds with our current understanding of the relationship between genes and complex human behaviors, such as political behavior.

"There is a growing consensus that complex traits that are heritable are influenced by differences in thousands of genes interacting with each other, with the epigenome (which regulates gene expressivity), and with the environment in complex ways," Charney said. "The idea that one or two genes could predict something like voting behavior or partisanship violates all that we now know about the complex relationship between genes and traits."

###

CITATION: "Candidate Genes and Political Behavior," in the February 2012 American Political Science Review, is available online: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PSR

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New hybrid 'NOSH aspirin' as possible anti-cancer drug

2012-03-01
Scientists have combined two new "designer" forms of aspirin into a hybrid substance that appears more effective than either of its forebears in controlling the growth of several forms of cancer in laboratory tests. Their report on the new NOSH-aspirin, so named because it releases nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), appears in the journal ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Khosrow Kashfi, Ravinder Kodela and Mitali Chattopadhyay point out that NO and H2S are signaling substances produced in the body that relax blood vessels, reduce inflammation and have a variety ...

Understanding Utah's Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Car Insurance

2012-03-01
If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident in Utah, you probably have many things on your mind. You could be worried about: - Paying your medical bills - Covering your wages if you are forced to be out of work - Getting your car repaired - Having to pay for a rental car Utah laws mandating specific types of car insurance coverage should allow you to rest easier. Utah is what is known as a "no-fault" automobile insurance state. This means that essentially the law is designed to keep insurance premiums lower by discouraging lawsuits between drivers. ...

LSUSHC research identifies new experimental drug for stroke

2012-03-01
New Orleans, LA – Research led by Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor and Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that a synthetic molecule protected the brain in a model of experimental stroke. Dr. Bazan was issued a patent on the molecule called LAU-0901, a low molecular weight drug that crosses the blood-brain barrier. The findings are published in the March 2012 issue of Translational Stroke Research. During an ischemic stroke, the most common kind, the body releases signals that cause neuroinflammation ...

The ever-expanding definition of 'diversity'

2012-03-01
Diversity has become a goal for all sorts of institutions—but what it means may depend on who you ask. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people's ideologies help determine what they count as "diverse." Miguel Unzueta, the study's lead author, notes that "diversity" historically meant inclusiveness toward historically disadvantaged groups. Now, however, the term is commonly used to refer to people who are different in any way (even personality traits and food preferences)—and that, Dr. Unzueta ...

UF scientists name new ancient camels from Panama Canal excavation

2012-03-01
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- The discovery of two new extinct camel species by University of Florida scientists sheds new light on the history of the tropics, a region containing more than half the world's biodiversity and some of its most important ecosystems. Appearing online this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the study is the first published description of a fossil mammal discovered as part of an international project in Panama. Funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation, UF paleontologists and geologists are working with the Panama Canal Authority ...

Adapting personal glucose monitors to detect DNA

2012-03-01
An inexpensive device used by millions of people with diabetes could be adapted into a home DNA detector that enables individuals to perform home tests for viruses and bacteria in human body fluids, in food and in other substances, scientists are reporting in a new study. The report on this adaptation of the ubiquitous personal glucose monitor, typically used to test blood sugar levels, appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry. Yi Lu and Yu Xiang point out that developing low-cost tests for the public to use for early diagnosis of diseases, checking the safety of ...

Meeting biofuel production targets could change agricultural landscape

2012-03-01
Almost 80 percent of current farmland in the U.S. would have to be devoted to raising corn for ethanol production in order to meet current biofuel production targets with existing technology, a new study has found. An alternative, according to a study in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, would be to convert 60 percent of existing rangeland to biofuels. W. Kolby Smith and colleagues explain that the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) set a goal of increasing U.S. biofuel production from 40 to 136 billion gallons of ethanol per year by 2022. ...

The Tint Guy Reminds Homeowners That, Even in Winter, Atlanta Window Tinting is Important

The Tint Guy Reminds Homeowners That, Even in Winter, Atlanta Window Tinting is Important
2012-03-01
Atlanta window tinting company The Tint Guy reminds homeowners that summer is not the only time to consider protection from the sun. Window tinting for your home, office and vehicle can dramatically reduce harmful exposure to UV rays at any time of the year. Tinted window films also protect the interior of these spaces from wearing out prematurely. The specialists at The Tint Guy report that most people do not think to have window tinting installed in the winter since the interior of their automobile or home is not as hot. People tend to associate these tinted films ...

3 scientific expeditions seek treasure under the ice in the Frozen Continent

2012-03-01
In a modern iteration of the great age of Antarctic exploration of the 19th and 20th centuries, three teams of scientists are rushing to reach not the South Pole like Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton, but lakes deep below the surface of the Frozen Continent believed to hold scientific treasures. That quest by Russian, British and American scientific teams for water samples is the topic of an article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific ...

Increased fertility rate for IVF patients achieved by new equipment design

2012-03-01
A novel system for processing embryos during IVF treatment has been shown to significantly improve the chances of pregnancy – by more than a quarter. Pioneered by a Newcastle team of fertility experts at the University and within the NHS, the innovative design of interlinked incubators provides a totally enclosed and controlled environment within which every step of the IVF process can be performed. Research published today in the journal PLoS ONE reveals that the introduction of the new system into the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life, part of the Newcastle Hospitals ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

Montana State geologist’s Antarctic research focuses on accumulations of rare earth elements

Groundbreaking cancer therapy clinical trial with US Department of Energy’s accelerator-produced actinium-225 set to begin this summer

Tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be avoided each year if cholesterol-lowering drugs were used according to guidelines

Leading cancer and metabolic disease expert Michael Karin joins Sanford Burnham Prebys

Low-intensity brain stimulation may restore neuron health in Alzheimer's disease

[Press-News.org] 2 genes do not make a voter