Gene pool torpedoes f

Bob
Hunter

” §$O IT does come down to the
“genes. I was afraid of that.

Well, not entirely.
‘According to a couple of reports
ina scientific journal called Nature
~ Genetics, about half of our novelty-
“seeking behavior is attributable to
genes. That's genes, as opposed to
~ brains.
Those people zipping down hills
“on skis? They can’t help it. It’sa.*
“genetic predisposition. They can no
: more not zip downhill than a termite
~can resist boring into wood. »
Those action-junkies out there on
- the suicidal edge of car-racing, para-
gliding, eco-protesting and moun-
tain-climbing are cursed, you see,
ith‘a. novelty-seeking, behavioral
. pattern. 7
‘And what's novelty-szeking
’ behavior? The essence of life, that’s
“what. It's the trait that makes us go
“chasing after dreams, drives us to
track down the truth, dig for informa-
ion, cross that ocean, blast off into
space: It’s what makés us human, as °
pposed to vegetables or sheep. :
now, while a link between
avior and § Benes has been per- «
ed when it came to schizophrenia
coholism, no scientists had
to suggest thet courage, the
‘urge to explore; and intellectual
uriosity.(to list a few aspects of our
velty-seeking behavior") were no
ore than genetic impulses them-

The brave, curious explorers —
> people with a ‘taste for the
“novel; .’ as Dr. Richard Ebstein of
Hi 20g Memorial Hospital puts it —
in fact,.cases of a particular vari-
vant of a gene allowing the brain to
spond to ‘dopamine signals,

‘that pulses through the brain, com-
“Muhicating chemical instructions to
at.we think of as the personality.

~‘our own unique personalities, I.
‘might add. Or. what we used to think
Zof as such.

‘The knobs of our consciousness,

turns out, are constantly being =~
‘adjusted from within by frequent rep-
.etitions of DNA’ subunits called

So4
Basically aveording to Dr.

(These writs were filed with the
court registry in Vancouver between
" Dec...7 and Dec. 19, 1995.
+ Tnformation is taker from the state-
ments of claim.) -
+ eee
Plaintiff: Hong Kong Bank of
‘Canada, 4th floor, 885 West Georgia
St.; Vancouver, *
“;Defendant:. Tricom . Industries
“Canada Ltd., 401-1285 West 8th
ve., Vancouver; and Frederick
Ristak, 1243-1979 Marine Dr., West
‘Vancouver.
Claim: $87,338. 25 pursuant to an
operating line of credit.

Plaintiff: ‘Bank of ‘Nova Scotia,
-1500 Marine Dr., North Vancouver.
Defendant: Sea-Kist Sea Deli Ltd.
‘and Victor Yehia,.4107 Burkehill
Rd., West Vancouver.

Claim: $62,712.84 against Sea-Kist

Ebstein, people who are impulsive,
excitable, exploratory, extroverted
and quick-tempered have longer D4
receptor genes than those of more
laid-back individuals.

So it does depend on how Jong it
is!

Those genes: Wouldn't you know
it? This happens to be the first time a
specific personality trait has been
directly linked to a specific gene.

But it opens the door to linking
other traits to other genes,

Fear of being hurt, another basic
human trait, will probably turn out to
be the result of a short (or long) exon
somewhere else in the DNA, and
ditto for characteristics like persis-
tence or dependence on being
rewarded.

Just when you think you're get-
ting to know yourself, along comes
some scientist saying, “Nah, it’s not
you, it’s the genes.”

Is life going to tum out to be a
bad Calvin Klein ad, after all?

The trouble with genetic deter-
minism, if that’s the term, is that it
makes everything kind of banal.

Somebody who acts on impulse,
boldly goes forth and searches out
the unknown — a hero, in short — is
just an automaton. after all.

Alt our epic quests and voyages
turn out to be mere genetic reflexes,
no more magnificent or noble than
the urge to scratch.

It looks like Pavlov was a dog,

. too. We salivate characteristics, so to

speak, at the command of genes
stewing around inside the cells of our
brain. .

It’s like discovering that wrestling
is rigged. Life is like a World.
Wrestling Federation match, the out-
come predetermined by the length of

" genetic ding-dongs in our heads.

What a thought. Yuk.

I liked it better when J could fan-
tasize that individuals made the dif-
ference in history, and that individu-
als acted on the basis of free will.

Therefore history was the cumu-
lative result of the exercise of inde-
pendent thought. .

That's a bit muddled, 1 admit. !
think I mean that at least the mess
had been made by people.

They had names. They were all
different from each other.

You could even urgue that they
were responsible for what they creat-
ed.

I guess that’s the nub of what
bothers me about the genes being
held responsible.

If our behavior does prove to be
purcly a matter of pumped-up (or
down) D4 receptors, the moral
dimension of fife disappears pretty
quickly.

Do genes have morals? Or scru-
ples?

Fundamentally, what would be.
the difference between, say, a Hitler,
and, say, a Gandhi, both guys with

Swit Suits

Sea Deli for monies loaned, and
$16,324.52 against Yehia as guaran-
tor.

AMU Investments Ltd.,
Dr, West

Plaintiff:
865 | Eyremount
Vancouver.
Defendant: Sohn Sean Smyth (cob
Sean Smyth Decorative Arts Ltd.),
663. Kenwood § Rd.,. North
Vancouver.

Claim: $24,610.10 pursuant to the
terms of a lease.

Plaintiff: Veltec Cycles (Canada)
Inc., c/o 307-1497 Marine Dr., West
Vancouver.

Defendant: Cap’s Bicycle Stores
Ltd., 474 East Columbia, New
Westminster.

‘Claim: $21,363.54. for goods sold .

and delivered.

presumably fair-sized dopamine
receptor genes?

Don't get upset. You don’t have to
tell me there's a difference. | know
there’s a difference.

I'm just fretting aloud about what
we'll have left to hang our morality
on if it tums out ican be proven we
are just preprogrammed cyborg
slaves to the Gene-Entity.

Rise up against your dopamine
receptors, | say.

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