Your genes help you pick your friends: Study
January 18th, 2011 - 12:16 pm ICT by ANILondon, Jan 18 (ANI): In a new study, scientists found that groups of friends show patterns of genetic similarity.
The study was conducted by lead author James Fowler, a social scientist at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues.
Their findings are based on patterns of variation in two out of six genes sampled among friends and strangers.
But the claim is a hard sell for some geneticists, who say that the researchers have not analysed enough genes to rule out alternative explanations.
The team looked at the available data on six genes from roughly 5,000 individuals enrolled in unrelated studies, and recorded the variation at one specific point, or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), in each gene, and compared this between friends and non-friends.
After controlling for genetic likeness due to sex, age, race or common ancestry, friends still tended to have the same SNP at one position in a gene encoding the dopamine D2 receptor, DRD2.
Friends also showed more variation at one position in a cytochrome gene, CYP2A6, than non-friends.
An ‘opposites attract’ phenomenon may account for the variation in CYP2A6 among friends, the authors said.
The study also suggested that genetic patterns don’t always show up for friends who connect through similar activities, such as running marathons or playing musical instruments.
The ultimate function of DRD2 or CYP2A6 is not clear. But the authors pointed out that previous studies have associated both genes, albeit controversially, with traits that influence social behaviour: DRD2 with alcoholism and CYP2A6 with ‘openness’2,3.
“When people choose friends with similar genotypes, an individual’s fitness - or survival until reproduction - not only reflects their own genes but also the genes of the friends they’ve chosen,” Nature quoted Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an author on the study, as saying.
The study appears in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1. (ANI)
- Genes May Determine Friendships, Researchers Say - Jan 19, 2011
- Genetic variants linked to caffeine intake discovered - Apr 07, 2011
- New genetic variants linked to height identified - Dec 31, 2010
- Genes explain why some people are Left wing - Oct 29, 2010
- Genetic variation linked to liver cirrhosis in alcoholic Caucasians identified - Dec 17, 2010
- 18 genetic markers for autism spectrum disorders identified - Apr 28, 2011
- Scientists Claim to Have Found 'Liberal Gene' - Oct 29, 2010
- Researchers find the 'liberal gene' - Oct 29, 2010
- Propensity to cheat on your partner may be in your genes - Dec 01, 2010
- Boffins find first common gene for congenital heart disease - May 27, 2010
- Genetic makeup identified as key factor that leads to severe sepsis - Jun 12, 2010
- Genetic variation that cuts bladder cancer risk identified - Apr 03, 2011
- Success of hepatitis C treatment may depend on genetic variant - Jun 13, 2010
- Gene that makes you drunk quickly pinpointed - Oct 20, 2010
- Gene that predisposes some people to have liberal outlook found - Oct 28, 2010
Tags: author james, california san diego, cambridge massachusetts, dopamine d2 receptor, friends and strangers, genetic patterns, genetic similarity, geneticists, harvard university, james fowler, likeness, london jan, marathons, nucleotide polymorphism, opposites, sex age, snp, social behaviour, social scientist, university of california san diego