Introduction to Human

Behavioral Genetics
Unit 8:
Summary, Public Policy &
Prospects
Behavioral Genetics, the Law and
Personal Responsibility: Part I
(Module C)

Continuum of Genetic Influence

GENETIC

Mendelian (Single-gene) Diseases:

High Genotype Phenotype Correlation
Specific Genetic Etiology e.g., Huntington Disease

Behavioral genetics and the law

Most legal systems are based on the assumption
that we are generally responsible for our
behavior
There have not been many uses of behavioral
genetic research in the courts
When introduced it has typically been used by
the defense in an attempt to absolve or mitigate
responsibility

Does Continuum of Genetic Influence Implicate

Complementary Continuum of Responsibility?
GENETIC

Multifactorial (Multi-gene) Diseases:

Modest to Moderate Genotype Phenotype Correlation
Genetic Heterogeneity e.g., Schizophrenia

ACQUIRED

Non- (or Low-) Heritable Diseases:

Little/No Genotype Phenotype Correlation
e.g., Head trauma, brain tumor

Genetics in the courtroom?

The XYY male
Usually tall and slender

Mendelian (Single-gene) Diseases:

LOW
PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY?

Multifactorial Diseases:

Non- (or Low-) Heritable Diseases:

ACQUIRED

HIGH
PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY?

Richard Speck
On July 14, 1966 murdered
8 student nurses in Chicago

Slightly lower IQ than average

He was somewhat tall and

some speculated he might
have an XYY karyotype

Produce higher levels of

testosterone than XY males
In 1965 & 1966 Pat Jacobs
reported males with XYY were
over-represented in British
penal institutes

Media erroneously
reported he was XYY
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A more successful use of a genetic

defense? The case of Bradley Waldroup
On Oct 16, 2006 shot his ex-wifes best friend 8
times, killing her, and attacked his ex-wife with a
machete
Defense presented evidence that Waldroup
carried a high-risk MAO-A allele and had a
history of childhood abuse

A focus on MAO-A
Serotonin and aggression:
Animals with no MAO-A have
high levels of brain serotonin and
are aggressive
Dutch pedigree: Males affected
with impulsive aggression had
low levels of MAO-A activity
Nonsense mutation: In position
936 a C to T mutation changes a
glutamine (CAG) codon to a stop
(TAG) codon
Brunner, H. G., et al. (1993). Abnormal behavior associated with a point mutation in the
structural gene for monoamine oxidase-A Science, 262(5133), 578-580.

Another MAO-A variant was found to interact with childhood

history of maltreatment in predicting antisocial behavior

The MAO-A gene has gained quite

a reputation
The murder gene:
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/M/MurderGene.aspx

The warrior gene:

http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/01/hotsauce

The rage gene:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/born-to-rage2/

Published by AAAS

Caspi, A., et al. (2002). Role of genotype in the cycle of violence

in maltreated children. Science, 297(5582), 851-854.

Please take a look at the first couple

of minutes of the documentary:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/born-to-rage2/

That begins with the question:

Are some people born violent?