The Prospects of Behavioral Genetics: Bad Genes Behind Crimes, Precision Education And Loosing Free Will?

Can the “warrior gene” explain aggressive and violent acts so that lawyers base their defenses on that in courts? Can genetics determine whether your marriage will be a long-lasting companionship? What about alcoholism, depression or autism? To what extent are we the product of our environment or the expression of our genes? While the nature versus nurture debate has been ongoing for centuries, the recent advances in genetics and genomics seem to shift the balance towards inheritance rather than the effect of our surroundings. We looked around whether it is justified, especially when it comes to its use in legal disputes. The accused are innocent, lock up their insides Do you remember the episode from House M.D when he tricked the team and the hospital into treating a death row inmate? It turned out that the patient had adrenal gland tumor, which released adrenaline at random intervals resulting in a violent rage. At some point, House even suggested that the fourth victim might have been killed during such an eruption of anger. At the end of the episode, his fellow doctor, Foreman argued that he would testify at the patient’s appeal, while House believed many other people with a similar condition managed to control their rage, thus biology could not absolve a murderer. Turning to reality, let’s look at Bradley Waldroup’s case. He shot his wife’s friend eight times and attacked his wife with a machete. The woman survived, the man didn’t. Waldroup admitte...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Bioethics Future of Medicine Genomics bioethical crime DNA dna testing genes genetics Innovation legal philosophy technology Source Type: blogs