FAT-1 Bipolar Gene and Moron Journalism

Researchers have found a gene that correlates with bipolar disorder. When I first heard, I thought I’d have to rant about neurovariant genocide / eugenics, but then I read further. (Can’t find the original anywhere so I’m piecing it together from different articles - all of which are appalling. The SMH was actually better than New Scientist.)

The gene doubles the risk of bipolarity. So if you have the gene you have a 4% chance of bipolarity rather than 2% for the general population. New Scientist says that the gene is involved in 10% of bipolar patients. I take this piece of ambiguity to mean that 10% of bipolar patients have the gene. Since the gene is found twice as often in (diagnosed) bipolars, 5% of the general population must have the gene. It’s nice to scrape up every piece of information we can but this is nothing to stop the presses over.

I have to take a swipe at Elizabeth Gosch in The Australian:

“Australian scientists have become the first in the world to identify the gene that makes people vulnerable to manic depression.”

The gene? This is the kind of journalism that makes the public distrust science. To report on science stuff you should be a scientist.