MAO-A is a gene that normally helps humans remain calm and happy. When low levels of activity are present, there is a higher likelihood of a person being more aggressive.
Can the level of MAO-A in a person help determine, say, whether that person would join a gang? A new study found a strong link.
“For the first time, we were able to establish a direct connection between the MAO-A gene and the choosing of a violent lifestyle,” says Kevin Beaver, a biosocial criminologist at FSU and lead author of the study published in Comprehensive Psychiatry…
Beaver and his colleagues found that those males carrying the low-active MAO-A gene were nearly twice as likely to join an organized gang than males with the high-active gene, and when in a fight, they were nearly twice as likely to brandish a weapon. Of the gang members studied, those who had a low-activity MAO-A allele were more than four times more likely to use a weapon when compared with male gang members who carried a high-activity version of the allele. “At the very least this suggests a genetic risk factor that can help us identify those youth most at risk,” Beaver says. “We can then intervene earlier to prevent it.”
