This is an article on the possibility of a murder gene, or at least genetic defects that could lead to people being more violent. This is something which still fascinates because may eventually lead to an explanation why some people become serial killers, and almost have this weird thirst to kill. I think anything about his topic is interesting, and also, quite horrifying.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004083-2,00.html
I am also very fascinated by this article. I've always been interested on what makes a serial killer a serial killer. I think it's kind of funny when we watch the news, they show a picture of someone who has just been convicted of murder, and instantly we think, "Yeah, he does look like a murderer." But what is it that makes us say that? The fact that the researches cited in this article had found a gene that could possibly lead to violent behavior says a lot about how far we've come in technology. I think one of the main things that makes someone a criminal is based off of what kind of family they belonged to, and how they were brought up as a child. Then again, this is hard to say because of the Mark Becker murder case. I've talked to people who know his family and they say he comes from a good family who brought him a well, and who went to church every Sunday. So what pushed him to do such a horrible thing?
I've always been interested in what possess a serial killer to do what he does. I remember a Dr. Phil episode that was on a while back about the signs of a serial killer in children. I never got a chance to watch the episode, but I looked it up on the internet, and found a link to his site where he lists all of his characteristics of what makes a serial killer. I've posted the link below.
http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/188
I thought this article was very interesting. While I was taking Biology last year, I learned about a group of people working on looking at every gene in a person's DNA. This group is called the Human Genome Project. I find it fascinating how technology has allowed scientists to discover certain genes like this. What this article also reminded me of is a show I watched on E! called Too Young to Kill. It's about kids under the age of 18 (usually 14/15 year olds) that have committed horrible crimes. Although some of their behavior could have been contributed to the child's bad parents, some of them had fine lives. It's interesting to know that there very well may be a gene to contribute to these violent acts.
I think it would be beneficial for society if science could discover a 'murder gene' or a gene that makes a person more prone to violence than others. Maybe testing children when they're born for the gene could help parents raise the child differently than they would have to help deter the child becoming a serial killer. This reminds me of Nature vs. Nurture, and I don't think that shaping the child's behavior could completely eliminate the possibility that they won't become a serial killer, but maybe shaping their behavior and environment could reduce the chances. I remember from my Intro to Psych class that the teacher said, "It's not nature VS. nurture, it's really nature AND nurture." Discovering a 'murder gene' could really save a lot of lives, and a lot of families pain.
This 'murder gene' is very interesting as well as frightening to me. It makes me wonder how many other people have this gene that we do not know about. There could be so many people in the world that have this gene and are causing a lot of crimes that we cannot stop. I think that there should be a way for doctors to test for this gene right away so the parents know that their child may be more violent than others. However, in some cases, this gene could be used as an excuse for the child's behavior and the parents could blame the child instead of trying to help them. A violent tendency, I think, comes from how the child is raised and what kinds of situations they are around when they are younger and how they are influenced. I also think that if the child has this gene, that it can relate to becoming violent, even if they are not around violent situations at all. The parents of the child have to know about the gene in order to help control the child's violent tendencies.