[MudGrrl]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/09/nwomen09.xml

I abhor people using excuses to try and cover their jack@ssery, but it seems that women have (another) excuse... (the first bein' Aunt Flo)

They report that anger, hostility and pugnacity may be genetic, rooted in variations in a serotonin receptor gene, that is the gene responsible in the protein that picks up the brain messenger chemical serotonin, one which plays a variety of roles, including in personality disorders. These findings "may aid in establishing a potential marker for certain conditions associated with aggression and anger", the team adds.

..
The study, the first to look at the relationship between variations in the serotonin receptor 2C gene and anger and hostility, focused 550 unrelated women of European descent. In order to find normal variations in genes and behaviour, the women were not prescreened for behavioural type.

Researchers found that those who had one or both of two alterations in the promoter region of the serotonin receptor 2C gene - the part of the gene that turns it on - were more likely to score lower on two common tests for anger, hostility and aggression.

Testing for these markers could have wider implications. "Aggression and hostility are predictors of hypertension, glucose metabolism and heart diseases," said Dr. Halder. "The genetic marker we found for hostility also may be useful for predicting a person's predisposition to such diseases," adding that this will be the subject of follow up studies.

But the work was greeted with some scepticism. "It's wildly premature to envisage the serotonin receptor 2C gene, or any gene, being used as a test for a tendency to angry aggression," commented Prof Terrie Moffitt of the Institute of Psychiatry, London. "However, this study fits another key piece into a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle: why are extremely emotional people more likely to develop heart disease?"

 

[Westy]

If you dislike someone because of genetics does that make you a racist? Not necessarily referring to this article but if genetic make someon an asshole...

 

[MudGrrl]

no, it just makes me a product of my genetics....