Curious as to what's hiding in my genes, 7/5/21

 Monday, July 5th

...Well, this is interesting...I think I have written elsewhere of when I was a teenager I told people I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up. In school (1967), I had my own paperback copy of Watson’s, The  Double Helix, his work (Watson and Crick) on the makeup and function of chromosomes.  There was no aspect of genes, and genetics that didn’t interest me.  That interest has stayed with me all my life.  The thought that you could just keep dividing Life down into smaller and smaller units until you came to chromosomes and still have the complete roadmap of a human being just blew me away.  In the last twenty years the breakthroughs in the technology (CRISPR-Cas9) needed to research, examine and manipulate the genetic sequences that determine nearly everything about us has plummeted in price and exploded in availability.  We need to be very thankful this is so as this technology gave us the upper hand with Covid-19 far faster than any scientist would have dreamed possible just 20 years ago.

This has spawned a whole industry providing sequencing of your genetics from a mail-in sample of your saliva.  It is also spawning a whole lot of questions and concerns of what is the impact of your personal genetic blueprints sitting in the cloud (“your identity will never-ever-ever-e-v-e-r be shared!”).  You see the problem is, not only does it tell you that you have a distant ancestor who was Polynesian, but it also tells your insurance company that you carry the genes for aggressive heart disease, early rectal cancer and let's say for good measure, uncontrollable anger/rage in midlife.  Uh oh,” Houston,  we have an uninsurability issue here!”  It is for that reason I have not allowed my genetics to be sequenced by various PD research groups in their pursuit of a cure for PD.

That’s not to say I’m not extremely curious about my profile (psst, remember those two words, extremely / curious), as I am quite interested in what makes me, well, ME?  Gene sequencing is now used not just for researching big, bad, (lucrative), diseases, but because costs have plummeted, you can research the genetic component of just about any attribute of what makes us human, including behaviour.  And that is exactly what is happening.  They are finding a genetic component to just about everything including our personality. Boy does that ever have implications!

So I started thinking about my own personality and quirks that might be unusually influenced by over/under-expression of a now identifiable gene(s). 

A quick life review and one thing that stood out for me was, all my life I have an incredible sense of curiosity.  There is almost nothing that I come across that doesn’t get the question marks coming out of my ears. Just tonight I started googling my way up the learning curve in regards to curiosity and genotype.  I found a very interesting paper on the gene  DRD4-7r Allele( An allele is one of two, or more, versions of the same gene at the same place on a chromosome), which is linked, along with a bunch of other genes, to high curiosity scores as well a number of specific mental illnesses. About 20% of the population has the DRD4-7r allele in their genome.  This 7r allele produces neural receptors that have a lower affinity for dopamine than other versions of the gene.  Hmm, Parkinson’s is a dopamine related disease.

The 7r allele has also been implicated in the onset of Conduct Disorder, Antisocial, Antisocial Personality Disorder, psychopathic behavior in kids experiencing a deficit in maternal care. In fact I ran across that comment in a couple of other studies. Which seems to confirm we, as persons, are a mixture of our genetics and our environment.  It also underlined the importance a safe and loving maternal caregiver in early childhood can have on limiting the full negative expression of some of our genetic coding.

But wait, there’s more!

From one of the studies; “The 7r allele has also been implicated in what appears to be a strong introspective capacity. Those with the allele, when viewing negative imagery demonstrated greater brain activity than those without the allele. This increased activation appears to indicate that when exposed to negative imagery, those with the 7r allele are experiencing greater meaning and association. The nature of this meaning and what it means for the individual is difficult to know, but it does indicate that the environment, when negative, causes significantly increased metabolism, which is likely to result in cognitive fatigue for the carrier faster than someone without the allele, all else being equal”. 

I have repeatedly said my driving question has always been, “Why do people do what people do?”  Implicit in my question is the acts committed by the dark side of our humanity.  What is going on in the minds of those who, week in and week out, open and close the gas chamber’s door?  I spend a lot of time thinking about dark things humans do.

The study goes on; “The 7r allele, therefore, could also be indicative of an introverted personality, in this case, someone who becomes easily fatigued when faced with the negativity of others (real or perceived). A negative view of other people could also result in avoidant behaviors and a perpetual quest for solitude for those with this allele.  Coincidentally, those with the 7r allele have also been found to have elevated daytime sleepiness when compared to those without the allele10, almost seeming to doom the carrier to a hermetic lifestyle out of necessity.”

There’s a lot in the preceding paragraph that I exhibit and have given little thought to why.

The study concludes with; “DRD4-7r appears to have profound implications for the carrier, and seems to be involved in a number of fateful activities that could impact the carrier’s entire life. A propensity for greater risk-taking, a heightened sensitivity to the environment, being at greater risk of attention and behavior issues, and demanding more parental attention in the formative years all set one up for an exhausting life – all because of one version of a receptor that isn’t as receptive to stimulation as the other versions. In fact, the receptor, much like the carrier, does not seem to play well with others. The 7r allele almost seems like a mischievous imp, inspiring and pushing the carrier into antisocial and asocial behaviors.  In a world where we have greater access to genetic screening, through genetic counselors and private enterprise, such as 23 and Me, the 7r allele should perhaps be a point of interest for prospective parents. Even though there is nothing inherently terminal or catastrophic about the allele, it is associated with a multitude of behavioral concerns and seems to impact how the carrier thinks and processes thoughts. This could be invaluable for parents when planning and forecasting parenting strategies, and perhaps even provide them with insight into their own lives.”

7/7/21, Wednesday (continued)

Update -- Focus has shifted from curiosity to the search for specific genes involved in the onset and progression of Parkinson's.  I’ve spent a considerable amount of time reading research abstracts and while I understand none of the methodology, or statistics, I could get the gist of the papers.  Here’s a few things I’ve walked away with or opinions I am coming to.

1.  Genetic research is moving forward at warp speed.  Not that long ago the question was, “Parkinson’s; Environment or Genetic?...Probably has a small genetic component”.

2. Published research 2014 and earlier, is almost like reading ancient history.

3. Papers published 2020/2021 frequently refer to PD as “primarily or significantly influenced by it’s genetic component”.

4. In regards to the onset of the mental illness aspect of PD, integrating in depth genetic counseling in the not too distant future is assumed.

5. One barely needs to read between the lines to see the medical/research science fields are going to strongly support global genotyping of all humans. This has huge implications that probably should be a stand alone post of it’s own at minimum.  For now I’ll only say, privacy, if it ever existed, won’t.  

6. Child rearing will go from taking the child's genotype merely into consideration amongst other things, to developing individual specific  genotype life maps for maximized self-actualization starting with prenatal genetic typing.

7. The wealthy will lead the way on integrating genotype determination into genotype manipulation particularly in disease pre-prevention and then in intellectual and command and control attributes.  Feral Fertilization/ Birthing (FFB) will be frowned upon and actively discouraged in the upper classes.  I suspect there will be an eventual dichotomy in how the rest (lower middle/working poor/indigent classes) will be addressed. I suspect the initial focus will be on birth prevention measures in regards to persons likely to be antisocial or so physically handicapped  as to require lifelong maintenance by the state.

8. The seeds of self-directed evolution of humankind have already germinated.

9. Allocating a portion of my retirement funds into index funds focused on genetic research and its applications as well as those industries that will build the associated infrastructure is probably well worth looking into.

10. On a slightly more personal note, I’m wondering if eventually we won’t redefine the 9 Enneagram types by their genotypes. I position as a 5 with a 4 wing and Myers-Briggs at a very lopsided INTP.  In regards to the DRD4-7r allele, that gene variation has “me” written all over it, and seems to fit a 5w4 pigeonholing - a “thinking, introverted, recluse with rebel tendencies”.  At least this is my initial thinking.

11. Lastly, I am reconsidering getting genotyped.

(Maybe more later) 

bobb