Comments on: Journal club: Genes, society, and health http://www.gravlee.org/2009/04/22/journal-club-genes-society-and-health/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:58:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Amy http://www.gravlee.org/2009/04/22/journal-club-genes-society-and-health/comment-page-1/#comment-422 Amy Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:51:31 +0000 http://www.gravlee.org/?p=754#comment-422 Wow, what a rich article! I think it's really cool how they empirically test all their social theories with alcoholism as a test case - as it's so clearly affected by both genes and environment. The best summary statement of all their conclusions is: "Genes matter. Social structures and experiences matter." I think some of their most interesting sub-points include: 1) genetic and social effects change little in the presence of the other (suggesting genes and society are not confounded). 2) GABRA2 causes increased risk only in men, perhaps because cultural tolerance sets men up to drink more, so the gene's expression is more noticeable in men. 3) Family networks, but not friendship networks, reduce affect of alcohol dependence. 4) If GABRA2 is expressed more in men, then stressful life circumstances and lack of social safety net encourage them to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism. Be careful in reading this to keep track of cause and effect: its easy to confuse the two. Sometimes they say the gene actually causes worse life circumstances, and sometimes vice versa, depending on the theory. Also, any idea what they mean in emphasizing the importance of intradisciplinary in addition to interdisciplinary perspectives? Wow, what a rich article! I think it’s really cool how they empirically test all their social theories with alcoholism as a test case – as it’s so clearly affected by both genes and environment. The best summary statement of all their conclusions is: “Genes matter. Social structures and experiences matter.”

I think some of their most interesting sub-points include:
1) genetic and social effects change little in the presence of the other (suggesting genes and society are not confounded).
2) GABRA2 causes increased risk only in men, perhaps because cultural tolerance sets men up to drink more, so the gene’s expression is more noticeable in men.
3) Family networks, but not friendship networks, reduce affect of alcohol dependence.
4) If GABRA2 is expressed more in men, then stressful life circumstances and lack of social safety net encourage them to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism.

Be careful in reading this to keep track of cause and effect: its easy to confuse the two. Sometimes they say the gene actually causes worse life circumstances, and sometimes vice versa, depending on the theory.

Also, any idea what they mean in emphasizing the importance of intradisciplinary in addition to interdisciplinary perspectives?

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