Dean Hamer
Encyclopedia
Dr. Dean Hamer is an American
geneticist
, author
, and filmmaker
. He is known for his contributions to biotechnology and AIDS prevention, his research on the genetics of human behavior including sexual orientation and spirituality, and his popular books and documentaries on a wide range of topics.
at Trinity College
, CT
, U.S.
and his Ph.D
from Harvard Medical School
. He was an independent researcher at the National Institutes of Health
for 35 years, where he directed the Gene Structure and Regulation Section at the U.S. National Cancer Institute
. He has won numerous awards including the Maryland Distinguished Young Scientist Award and the Ariens Kappers Award for Neurobiology.
vectors
. This approach was subsequently used to produce a variety of biomedical products including human growth hormone
and a vaccine for Hepatitis B. He was granted 4 U.S. patents
for this research.
s that influence sexual orientation in males, and presented evidence that one of these genes is associated with the Xq28
marker on the X chromosome
.
This finding was replicated in two studies in the United States but not in a third in Canada; meta-analysis indicated Xq28 has a significant but not exclusive effect.
Subsequently, several additional linked regions on other chromosomes have been described.
In 1996, Hamer and colleagues investigated the genetic roots of anxiety and found that the gene for the serotonin transporter, which is the target of antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, is partially responsible.
This polymorphism has been extensively replicated and its activity has been confirmed by direct brain imaging studies.
More recently, Hamer has postulated the existence of a God gene
for religious experience
. This work, which was featured on the cover of Time magazine, has been controversial.
approach to HIV
/AIDS
prevention. By genetically engineering normal vaginal bacteria to produce a potent anti-HIV peptide, significant protection against viral infection was provided in a durable and obtainable fashion for up to one month. The methodology is applicable for both rectaland vaginal use.
OUT IN THE SILENCE, the first feature film from Qwaves, was supported by the Sundance Documentary Film Program and premiered at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Lincoln Center to critical acclaim. It was broadcast on PBS
where it won an Emmy Award
for achievement in documentary. Through more than 500 grassroots screenings across the country, this film has become part of a national movement to open dialogue, counter school bullying, and support fairness and equality for all in small towns and rural communities.
In 2011, the OUT IN THE SILENCE YOUTH ACTIVISM AWARD was initiated to highlight the contributions of young people to achieving respect, inclusion and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
He was also featured in comedian Bill Maher's 2008 documentary "Religilous".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
geneticist
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and filmmaker
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
. He is known for his contributions to biotechnology and AIDS prevention, his research on the genetics of human behavior including sexual orientation and spirituality, and his popular books and documentaries on a wide range of topics.
Education and Career
Hamer obtained his BABachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
at Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
, CT
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and his Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
. He was an independent researcher at the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
for 35 years, where he directed the Gene Structure and Regulation Section at the U.S. National Cancer Institute
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
. He has won numerous awards including the Maryland Distinguished Young Scientist Award and the Ariens Kappers Award for Neurobiology.
Biotechnology Research
While still a graduate student at Harvard Medical School, Hamer invented the first method for introducing new genes into animal cells using SV40SV40
SV40 is an abbreviation for Simian vacuolating virus 40 or Simian virus 40, a polyomavirus that is found in both monkeys and humans...
vectors
Vector (biology)
In biology, the term vector may be used in different contexts:*Vector , an organism, often an invertebrate arthropod, that transmits a pathogen from reservoir to host...
. This approach was subsequently used to produce a variety of biomedical products including human growth hormone
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. Growth hormone is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior...
and a vaccine for Hepatitis B. He was granted 4 U.S. patents
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for this research.
Human Behavior Genetics
In the 1990s Hamer began studies of the role of genes in human behavior. In 1993 he published a paper suggesting the existence of geneGene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s that influence sexual orientation in males, and presented evidence that one of these genes is associated with the Xq28
Xq28
Xq28 is a genetic marker on the X chromosome found by Dean Hamer and others in 1993. Hamer's study led to his belief that they found a link between the Xq28 marker and male homosexuality, but the original study's results have been disputed.-1993 study:...
marker on the X chromosome
X chromosome
The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in many animal species, including mammals and is common in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and X0 sex-determination system...
.
This finding was replicated in two studies in the United States but not in a third in Canada; meta-analysis indicated Xq28 has a significant but not exclusive effect.
Subsequently, several additional linked regions on other chromosomes have been described.
In 1996, Hamer and colleagues investigated the genetic roots of anxiety and found that the gene for the serotonin transporter, which is the target of antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, is partially responsible.
This polymorphism has been extensively replicated and its activity has been confirmed by direct brain imaging studies.
More recently, Hamer has postulated the existence of a God gene
God gene
The God gene hypothesis proposes that a specific gene predisposes humans towards spiritual or mystic experiences. The idea has been postulated by geneticist Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S...
for religious experience
Religious experience
Religious experience is a subjective experience in which an individual reports contact with a transcendent reality, an encounter or union with the divine....
. This work, which was featured on the cover of Time magazine, has been controversial.
HIV/AIDS Prevention
Hamer's lab, in collaboration with Osel, Inc, has developed a new live microbial microbicideMicrobicide
Microbicides for sexually transmitted diseases, are pharmacologic agents and chemical substances that are capable of killing or destroying certain microorganisms that commonly cause human infection, for example the human immunodeficiency virus....
approach to HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
prevention. By genetically engineering normal vaginal bacteria to produce a potent anti-HIV peptide, significant protection against viral infection was provided in a durable and obtainable fashion for up to one month. The methodology is applicable for both rectaland vaginal use.
Books
Hamer has published a number of popular science books that are aimed at a general readership and have been favorably reviewed in the New York Times, New York Review of Books, and Time magazine.- The Science of Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene and the Biology of Behavior (Simon and Schuster, 1994) ISBN 0-684-80446-8
- Living with Our Genes: Why They Matter More Than You Think with Peter Copeland (Anchor, 1999) ISBN 0-385-48584-0
- The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into our Genes (Doubleday, 2004) ISBN 0-385-50058-0
Films
Hamer turned to documentary filmmaking to address complex scientific and social issues often overlooked by the mainstream media. In 2005, he and his partner in life and filmmaking Joe Wilson, formed Qwaves with the mission of producing insightful and provocative films that "emanate from the voices of those on the outside, that incite us to abandon our comfortable role as spectators, and that compel us to question and to act." Their films have won numerous awards including winner of the PBS Independent Lens Shorts Festival, winner of the Videomaker National Documentary Film Challenge, and jury and audience awards and official selection at more than 100 film festivals worldwide. Qwaves films were part of the pioneering days of citizen-generated content on the Internet and cable television, and have been used as outreach and educational tools by a wide range of community and educational organizations.OUT IN THE SILENCE, the first feature film from Qwaves, was supported by the Sundance Documentary Film Program and premiered at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Lincoln Center to critical acclaim. It was broadcast on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
where it won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for achievement in documentary. Through more than 500 grassroots screenings across the country, this film has become part of a national movement to open dialogue, counter school bullying, and support fairness and equality for all in small towns and rural communities.
In 2011, the OUT IN THE SILENCE YOUTH ACTIVISM AWARD was initiated to highlight the contributions of young people to achieving respect, inclusion and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
He was also featured in comedian Bill Maher's 2008 documentary "Religilous".
See also
- Biology and sexual orientationBiology and sexual orientationBiology and sexual orientation is the subject of research into the role of biology in the development of human sexual orientation. No simple, single cause for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, but research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and...
- God geneGod geneThe God gene hypothesis proposes that a specific gene predisposes humans towards spiritual or mystic experiences. The idea has been postulated by geneticist Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S...
- Serotonin transporterSerotonin transporterThe serotonin transporter is a monoamine transporter protein.This protein is an integral membrane protein that transports the neurotransmitter serotonin from synaptic spaces into presynaptic neurons. This transport of serotonin by the SERT protein terminates the action of serotonin and recycles it...
- VMAT2VMAT2The vesicular monoamine transporter 2 also known as solute carrier family 18 member 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC18A2 gene...
- Xq28Xq28Xq28 is a genetic marker on the X chromosome found by Dean Hamer and others in 1993. Hamer's study led to his belief that they found a link between the Xq28 marker and male homosexuality, but the original study's results have been disputed.-1993 study:...