article_snippet.sent: The biggest study of its kind suggests sex offending could run in the family along the male genetic line.
article_snippet.sent: Sex offending could run in families along the male genetic line, experts claim.
article_snippet.sent: The findings show that 40 to 50 per cent of the differences in risk between close relatives of offenders and men from the general population were genetically driven.
article_snippet.sent: Evidence from half-brothers sharing either a mother or father and being raised in different family environments supported the idea that genetics played an important role in sexual offending.
article_snippet.sent: More than half of the difference in risk was linked to ‘non-shared’ environmental factors including perinatal complications, head injuries and childhood sexual victimisation that affect an individual but are not shared with other family members.
article_snippet.sent: Behavioural factors found in sex crimes, such as impulsive behaviour, hypersexuality and sexual deviance, may be genetic-based drivers for the offences, said the researchers.
article_snippet.sent: Co-author Professor Seena Fazel, from Oxford University, said: ‘Co-author Professor Seena Fazel, from Oxford University are definitely not saying that Co-author Professor Seena Fazel, from Oxford University have found a gene for sexual offending.
article_snippet.sent: ‘What Co-author Professor Seena Fazel, from Oxford University have found is high-quality evidence from a large population study that genetic factors have a substantial influence.
article_snippet.sent: At the moment genetic factors are typically ignored when it comes to making risk assessments of those at high risk of sexual offending’ said Prof Fazel.
article_snippet.sent: A logical next step would be a large-scale study that took DNA samples and looked for genetic patterns that may contribute to problem sexual behaviours, Prof Fazel added.
article_snippet.sent: But pinning down the precise genetic variants involved in sexual offending would be next to impossible, requiring samples from many thousands of individuals, which rules out the use of genetic screening.