Steve offered the following link:
>>... Yahoo! ... January 28 ... Canada Team Finds Genetic Link to
.>Suicide By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian
>doctors said on Friday they had discovered a genetic mutation
>which increased the chance of suicide and predicted that a test to
>identify those at high risk of killing themselves could be available by
>2002. The results of a 10-year study by a team at the Royal Ottawa
>Hospital into why depressed people kill themselves are a clear sign
>that suicide is a largely genetic phenomenon and not related, as
>often thought, to weakness of character. There are enormous
>implications to the findings. Creation of a successful test may lead
>to more careful treatment of depressed patients who carry the
>mutation but may raise fears that those with the marker could be
>discriminated against. The team found that depressed people with
>a mutation in the gene encoding for a serotonin 2A receptor -- a
>message-carrying chemical linked to mood -- were more than twice
>as likely to commit suicide than those without the mutation. ..
Hi Steve,
A genetic marker for suicide? Science hasn't found it yet but are making
great scientific progress. Scientists are confident it is only a matter of
time. They are also looking for genetic markers for schizophrenia,
alcoholism, homosexuality and violent behavior. Haven't found them yet but,
again, great scientific progress is being made. (Just like abiogenesis,
right?)
And when that genetic marker for suicide is found, psychiatrists will be able
to treat people with the defect from birth. Instead of patients remaining
in psychotherapy for ten or twenty years as adults, the treatment can start
as soon as the child is able to describe his unhappy childhood -- even while
it is occurring. It could be an answer to unemployment. (Among
psychotherapists, at least.) Drug companies will surely come up with a
profitable pill to keep those with the genetic defect in a state of perpetual
bliss. (I think we already have some, but they would have to be made legal,
especially if they are to be administered to infants and children.) Isn't
modern science wonderful?
Bertvan
http://members.aol.com/bertvan
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