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Possible Monogamy Gene Found In People
Calopteryx sends in a New Scientist summary of research from Sweden pointing toward the existence of a gene that influences monogamy in men. (The article doesn't mention women, and the study subjects were all men at least 5 years into a heterosexual relationship.) "There has been speculation about the role of the hormone vasopressin in humans ever since we discovered that variations in where receptors for the hormone are expressed makes prairie voles strictly monogamous but meadow voles promiscuous; vasopressin is related to the 'cuddle chemical' oxytocin. Now it seems variations in a section of the gene coding for a vasopressin receptor in people help to determine whether men are serial commitment-phobes or devoted husbands."
letting women be 'people' too?
These studies are usually more dubious, and of less value than an average humanities paper. Should we really be calling them science?
Junk Science is a problem. A big problem. The media loves these trite little findings, but dubious correlations based on statistical quackery, and experimental fecklessness will ultimately drag the standing of science further and further into the gutter. Maybe that's not the case for this particular study.... But I doubt it!
There are far worthier projects that professionals could be spending their time and money on. Maybe they won't get your study featured next to the horoscopes and crosswords in every daily rag across the globe, but they will be of benefit to the progress of humanity. If this means that you as a scientist will actually have to do some real work investigating genomes of pathogens or plants instead of interviewing people about their feelings and feeding their swab data into a matlab script, then my heart bleeds for you.
May the Maths Be with you!
That's not the style we used when I learned about emphasis in English.