He smokes cigarettes, spends long hours in an old laboratory at the US National Institute of Health, and in his free time climbs up cliffs and points his skis down steep slopes, [e also happens to be openly, matter-of-factly gay.
What is it that makes Hamer who he is? What, for that latter, accounts for the talents and traits that make up anyone’ s personality? Hamer is not content merely to ask such questions is trying to answer them as well. A pioneer in the field of mocular psychology, Hamer is exploring the role genes play in ifs; iverning the very core of our individuality. To a remarkable exnt, his work on what might be called the gay, thrill-seeking id quit-smoking genes reflects how own genetic predispositions. That work, which has appeared mostly in scientific jour-Is, has been gathered into an accessible and quite readable
rm in Hamer’s creative new book, Living with Our Genes. " You have about as much oice in some aspect of your personality," Hamer and co-author Peter Copeland write in the iroductory chapter, "as you do in the shape of your nose or the size of your feet. "
Until recently, research into behavioral genetics was dominated by psychiatrists and psy-alogists, who based their most compelling conclusions about the importance of genes on [dies of identical twins. For example, psychologist Michael Bailey of Northwestern Universi-famously demonstrated that if one identical twin is gay, there is about a 50% likelihood that ! other will be too. Seven years ago, Hamer picked up where the twin studies left off, hom-; in on specific strips of DNA that appear to influence everything from mood to sexual orien-ion.
Hamer switched to behavioral genetics from basic research; after receiving his doctorate m Harvard, he spent more than a decade studying the biochemistry of a protein, the cells ;d to metabolize heavy metals like copper and zinc. As he was about to turn 40, however, mer suddenly realized he had learned as much about the protein as he cared to. "Frankly, as bored," he remembers, "and ready for something new. "
Homosexual behavior, in particular, seemed ripe for exploration because few scientists i dared tackle such an emotionally and politically charged subject. "I’m gay," Hamer 3 with a shrug, " but that was not a major motivation. \It was more of a question of intellec-curiosity—and the fact that no one else was doing this sort of research. "