It seems that Dr. Watson might have a built-in excuse for his racist comments that created quite a stir last week, the DRD3 or a ”novelty seeking gene”. Here’s the article about it:

MSNBC: James Watson’s foot-in-mouth gene

I was unable to find out if Watson has a gene associated with people who sometimes say inappropriate things and exhibit anti-social behavior, but in my interview with him he said that he has a quick temper, and suspects he has this gene. ”I want to test myself because I bet I have a root form of the gene but you keep it in the background where you don’t say things too outrageous.” Ahem.

Of course, Dr. Watson has had a long history of saying outrageous things. The more I read about him the more I think he must have been one of the character models for TV’s House.

The question is how much can we excuse people for their behavior if it is based on their genetic make-up? We are urged in some cases to overlook or accept some behaviors based to varying degrees on genetics while others we’re encouraged to shun or even prosecute as criminal. What should we do?

My take is that while genes do influence behavior, people ultimately choose how they behave and are responsible for their choices and the effect of those choices on their life. Beyond that it’s up to a society to decide how it wants to react, as a group, to these choices.

Dr. Watson made a bad choice by saying what he did. It can’t be excused by genes.

What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

UPDATE

Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. It turns out that an analysis of Dr. Watson’s DNA has indicated that 16 percent of his genes probably came from a black ancestor. See this MSNBC article: Does this man look black to you?

Amazing Events
DNA, Dr. James Watson, Genetics