Why did I mention that he was born in Eritrea? Because critics say that an immigrant like Keflezighi who moved to the U.S. at age 12 isn’t a legitimate American.

A post on Letsrun.com said:

Give us all a break. It’s just another African marathon winner.

How about making that African-American?

Silly me. I thought that naturalized American citizens equal American citizens at birth with the same rights and privileges (with the exception of getting to be the President of the United States). Leaving that debate aside, however, the belief that East Africans are genetically endowed for marathon running has also clouded Keflezighi’s celebration.

The success of distance runners from Kenya and Ethiopia has fostered a lore of East Africans as genetically gifted, unbeatable, dominant because of their biology. Scientists have looked for — but not found — genes specific to East Africans that could account for their distance ability, said John Hoberman, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies race and sports.

Truly American? Debate Dogs a Triumph in the Marathon – NYTimes.com

No doubt Keflezighi has genes which enhance his physiological capabilities for endurance and other traits found in winning marathoners. This does not mean that Keflezighi is any more or less American than other non-East African runners who have the same genes.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “nationality” in two parts:

nationality

noun (pl. nationalities) 1 the status of belonging to a particular nation. 2 an ethnic group forming a part of one or more political nations.

Even though ethnic groups are mentioned, the U.S. is clearly a country of many ethnic groups so genes should not be part of the debate when discussing whether someone is American or not.

Quite frankly, I’m not even sure what makes a person American and I don’t think anyone else does either. I hold an American passport and spent the years between ages 6 and 26 in the U.S. I’ve lived in six different countries in the past 10 years and as a result, my national identity is slightly muddled. My son is even more confused. He holds an American passport as well but has never lived in the U.S although he’s lived in four different countries in his seven years. He was born in Japan so some days he says that he’s Japanese and now that he lives in Singapore, he sometimes says he’s Singaporean. I’m sure some people would say he’s not American at all.

It might be simpler to say we’re global citizens with ties to more than one country. Truth be told, I’m proud to say I’m Chinese-American with the accent to prove it.

Edited to add this video of Meb Keflezighi on David Letterman:

So when it comes to genetic testing, I should want to know but I don’t. At least not right this minute. Haven’t I got enough to worry about?

From Middletown Journal’s month-long series on the battle against cancer – Many with cancer gene don’t want to know.

There are people out there who may not want to know. There’s a subset of people who if they knew would act on the information and benefit and there are others who would rather bury their heads in the sand.

~Dr. Michael Watson, director of the American College of Medical Genetics

NIH Director Francis Collins, however, falls squarely in the camp of those who not only want to know, they act on the info. Well done!

Collins hits the gym following genetic testing from The Great Beyond, Nature blog

Maybe if a genetic test could motivate me to go to the gym and lose weight, it would be worth it.

1. Fake your DNA sample
2. Blame it on your identical twin
3. See if you have the genes that predispose you to whatever crime you’ve committed

Murderer Abdelmalek Bayout and his attorneys chose option three. Bayout admitted in 2007 to stabbing and killing Walter Felipe Novoa Perez in Italy. During the first sentencing, he was found to be mentally ill. This year, neuroscientists also found abnormalities in brain-imaging scans and five genes linked to violent behavior, including MAOA.

Although there have been numerous cases since 1994 in which the defense argued for leniency based on MAOA deficiency, this is the first case in which this tactic has been successful. Based on the scans and genetic testing results, the judge reduced Bayout’s sentence by another year.

Not everyone agrees with the judge’s decision.

"We don’t know how the whole genome functions and the [possible] protective effects of other genes," says Giuseppe Novelli, a forensic scientist and geneticist at the University Tor Vergata in Rome. Tests for single genes such as MAOA are "useless and expensive", he adds.

Even worse, this verdict could open the floodgates to claims of all sorts the more we know about genetic influences on behavior. That list above is just about to get longer.

Source: Scientific American

Image: “Structural (left) and functional (right) MRI scan data shows that subjects with the violence-related version of the MAO-A gene (MAOA-L) had reduced volume and activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (blue area in front part of brain at left and corresponding yellow area in at right), which is thought to be the hub of a circuit responsible for regulating impulsive aggression. The color-coded areas show where subjects with the L gene type differed from subjects with the H gene type.”

NIMH Clinical Brain Disorders Branch

via Medgadget

Their Facebook fan page is even running a photo contest asking people to post photos of themselves with one of their DNA ads. Very fun to see DNA in the wild.

Here’s one of my favorites.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Want a Job? Submit your DNA

The University of Akron is requiring that new employees must undergo a criminal background check and possibly a DNA sample.

Applicants will be asked to submit fingerprints and at the discretion of The University of Akron may be asked to submit a DNA sample for the purpose of a federal criminal background check.

~University of Akron Criminal Background Checks for Potential University Employees, effective August 12, 2009

Would you submit your DNA to get a job?

For more, see Inside Higher Ed and Taking Liberties at CBS News

DNA Network

• Andro Hsu, 23andMe – How will medicine and its regulation adapt to the information age?
• Blaine Bettinger, Bond, Schoeneck & King / The Genetic Genealogist – [Forthcoming]
• Misha Angrist, Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy - Dear Dr. Board-Certified Clinical Geneticist
• Steven Murphy, Helix Health – [Forthcoming]
• Jonathan Lord, Navigenics – [Forthcoming]
• Jason Bobe, The Personal Genome Project – [Forthcoming]
• Bertalan Mesko, Webicina.com – Personalized Medicine in the Web 2.0 Era
• Daniel MacArthur, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute – [Forthcoming]

http://www.hugo-international.org/blog/

In just a few short weeks, HUGO will be holding a symposium in Geneva, Switzerland on genomics and ethics, law and society (GELS). From 1 to 3 November 2009, experts from around the world will be gathering to discuss the following topics:

• Science & Its Capabilities
• Personal Genomics: Redefining Privacy, Choice and the Internet
• Genetic Determinism, Discrimination, Exceptionalism and Selection
• Equity and Justice: Access & Participation in the Developing World
• Open Access, Open Markets: Intellectual Property?

It’s not too late to sign up! Student discounted registration fees, registration waivers for young scholars and young scientists are also available. Please see the GELS registration form.

1. Craig Venter
2. James Watson
3. Stephen Quake
4. George Church
5. Marjolein Kriek
6. Hermann Hauser
7. Han Chinese
8. Seong-Jin Kim
9. Korean AK1
10. Yoruban African NA18507
11. 14 others sequenced by Complete Genomics
12. Unknown number sequenced by Knome
13. 6 genomes sequenced at high depth by the 1000 Genomes Project
14. 180 genomes sequenced at low coverage by the 1000 Genomes Project
15. Two acute myeloid leukemia patients

Know any I’ve missed?

Please see the comments for more links.

Sources: Technology Review, Nature 2009 Aug 20; 460(7258):1011-5

Last edited 22 September 2009