When it's good, it's great; when it's bad, it's horrid

October 28, 2015 7:32 AM

A 5-year study of 333 Australians found those with the short-short version of the 5-HTTLPR promoter of the SERT serotonin transporter gene were more likely than other adults to be depressed if they had suffered abuse as a child. However, if they hadn't suffered childhood abuse, they were likely to be happier than the rest of the population. This may help resolve inconsistent previous results about the effects of the allele.
posted by clawsoon (3 comments total)

Hey, open access! The full paper is linked from the bottom of the first link, which states Rs25531 is they SNP examined, for those following along at home...
posted by fragmede at 8:15 AM on October 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is where I think we need to stop seeing unique genes as diseases, and rather seeing people with specific make-ups as having specific needs to thrive and perhaps have specialized skills and traits as a result.
posted by xarnop at 2:41 PM on October 28, 2015 [7 favorites]

Gene x Environment interactions are very common and make generalizing genetic effects very very difficult. In plants, carefully characterized environmental gradients, common gardens, and growth chamber experiments can help tease out gxe. I can't imagine how difficult this is in humans where one has to rely on natural experiments.
posted by congen at 8:07 AM on October 31, 2015 [1 favorite]