Genetics news | Genetics news

Subscribe to newsletter...

Subscribe to newspaper...

ADVERTISEMENT This week's Q&A is with Dr.

Donald W.

Black.

He is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa and researches obsessive-compulsive disorder and anti-social personality disorder.Q: In your research study of pathological gambling, you discovered that "something is being passed along in these families that increases the persons' likelihood of engaging in impulsive and ultimately self-destructive behavior." Do you mean that it is passed on hereditarily or by young family members witnessing older family members engaging in these types of behavior and then imitating?

A: I believe that converging lines of evidence point to a genetic root to pathological gambling (PG), as well as most types of behavioral problems including drug and alcohol addictions.

Clearly, genes do not function in a vacuum, and non-genetic causes are important as well although science can't quite identify yet what those factors might be.

Of course, people don't "inherit" PG, because gambling is a social construct and so must be available in society for people to develop a problem.

The same is true for alcoholism, because for that to exist, alcohol must be available.

That said, a certain percent of any population exposed to gambling will develop a problem, and the relevant question is: What is it about those people that leads ...

Other birds have "cinnamon" colors, budgie talk for pastels.

To assist in the breeding process, he tracks each bird's lineage with a special computer program.

That way he can find birds and breed a couple with particular strengths such as colors or spot patterns.

Myers' fascination with budgies doesn't stop at breeding and showing the birds at contests in Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, California and Colorado.

He also has served as a judge for national shows and is the past chairman of the Budgerigar Association of America.

The ideal bird, Myers said, is about 9 inches long and will stand upright on its perch in a "very regal" position.

It has a large head that's almost as wide as its body.

click to zoom in Eagle Photo/Paul Zoeller A group of Budgerigars of different colors sit in their aviary.

Budgerigars are orginally green but through breeding take on many other colors and color patterns.

Myers was introduced to the birds in 1990 by a friend in Houston who was moving.

He had about 75 American parakeets, Myers said, and couldn't take them.

Myers agreed to watch the birds and, as he learned more about them, became more interested.

Soon after, he came across a newspaper ad for an English budgerigar show in Houston and decided to go.

The attraction was instant.

Today, Myers is a nationally known budgie bree...