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TheGod gene hypothesis proposes that humanspirituality is influenced by heredity and that a specificgene, calledvesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), predisposes humans towardsspiritual ormystic experiences.[1] The idea has been proposed bygeneticistDean Hamer in the 2004 book calledThe God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes.
The God gene hypothesis is based on a combination ofbehavioral genetic, neurobiological and psychological studies.[2] The major arguments of the hypothesis are: (1) spirituality can bequantified by psychometric measurements; (2) the underlying tendency to spirituality is partiallyheritable; (3) part of this heritability can be attributed to the gene VMAT2; (4) this gene acts by alteringmonoamine levels; and (5) spirituality provides an evolutionary advantage by providing individuals with an innate sense of optimism.
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According to the God Gene hypothesis, spirituality has a genetic component, of which (VMAT2) comprises one component by contributing to sensations associated withmystic experiences, including thepresence of God and feelings of connection to a larger universe.
The research uses the self-transcendence scale developed by psychologistRobert Cloninger to quantify spirituality using three sub-scales: "self-forgetfulness" (as in the tendency to become totally absorbed in some activity, such as reading); "transpersonal identification" (a feeling of connectedness to a larger universe); and "mysticism" (an openness to believe things that remain unproven, such asESP). Cloninger suggests that taken together, these measurements are a reasonable way toquantify (make measurable) an individual's propensity to bespiritual.
The self-transcendence measure was shown to beheritable by classicaltwin studies conducted by Lindon Eaves and Nicholas Martin. Their work demonstrated that approximately 40% of the variation in self-transcendence was due to genes. By contrast, specific religious beliefs (such as belief in a particular deity) were found to have no genetic basis and are instead cultural units ormemes. Similar conclusions were drawn from studies of identical twins reared apart.
In order to identify some of the specific genes involved in self-transcendence, Hamer analyzed DNA and personality score data from over 1,000 individuals and identified one particular locus, VMAT2, with a significant correlation. VMAT2 codes for a vesicular monoamine transporter that plays a key role in regulating the levels of the brain chemicalsserotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. These monoamine transmitters are in turn postulated to play an important role in regulating the brain activities associated with mystic beliefs.
Hamer hypothesized that self-transcendence might provide an evolutionary advantage by providing human beings with an innate sense of optimism that gives people the will to keep on living and procreating, despite the inevitability of death, and promoting better health and recovery from diseases.
In the brain, VMAT2 proteins are located onsynaptic vesicles. VMAT2 transportsmonoamine neurotransmitters from thecytosol of monoamineneurons into vesicles. Developmental biologist and science bloggerPZ Myers argues: "It's a pump. A teeny-tiny pump responsible for packaging a neurotransmitter for export during brain activity. Yes, it's important, and it may even be active and necessary during higher order processing, like religious thought. But one thing it isn't is a 'god gene.'"[3]
Popular science writerCarl Zimmer said that VMAT2 can be characterized as a gene that accounts for less than one percent of the variance of self-transcendence scores. These, Zimmer says, can signify anything from belonging to the Green Party to believing inESP. Zimmer also points out that the God Gene theory is based on only one unpublished, unreplicated study.[4]
However, Hamer notes that the importance of the VMAT2 finding is not that it explains all spiritual or religious feelings, but rather that it points the way toward one neurobiological pathway that may be important. Currently, there are several VMAT2 inhibitors marketed as drugs includingdeutetrabenazine,tetrabenazine, andvalbenazine.[5] The question of the God Gene could be answered by experimental studies.
John Polkinghorne, a theoretical physicist and Anglican priest, member of theRoyal Society andCanonTheologian atLiverpool Cathedral, was asked for a comment on Hamer's theory by theBritish national daily newspaper,The Daily Telegraph. He replied: "The idea of a God gene goes against all my personal theological convictions. You can't cut faith down to the lowest common denominator of genetic survival. It shows the poverty ofreductionist thinking."[6][7]
Walter Houston, thechaplain ofMansfield College, Oxford, and a fellow intheology, told theTelegraph: "Religious belief is not just related to a person's constitution; it's related to society, tradition, character—everything's involved. Having a gene that could do all that seems pretty unlikely to me."
Hamer responded that the existence of such a gene would not be incompatible with the existence of a personal God: "Religious believers can point to the existence of God genes as one more sign of the creator's ingenuity—a clever way to help humans acknowledge and embrace a divine presence."[7] He repeatedly notes in his book that, "This book is about whether God genes exist, not about whether there is a God."[8]
