The Cheerleader Gene

Maybe the poor, sad SOBs can't help being liberal. It's genetic. Scientists at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, have determined that having a particular dopamine receptor gene called DRD4 is associated with being politically liberal, if you had a lot of friends as an adolescent.

It is the combination of this gene and the teen age social behavior that together tend to be predictive of a liberal political orientation. Go here to see an article reporting the findings on the website of NBC San Diego.

It is elsewhere widely observed that many individuals become more conservative as they age, yet we can be sure that this gene doesn't change. Is this gene a marker of lifelong liberals or of youthful liberals who turn neo-con? The article doesn't say.