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Show OCTOBER 1995 APPIN: APPAPORT Researchers Link New Gene to Liars By I.B. Rappaport <a have now discovered a gene segment of human DNA that may be related to the ability to lie. The startling evidence is apparently linked, politicians, 1890 Bonanza 23rd Dr. Park City Psychology Annual Park City as: To check equipment in, SALE School: Friday : 4:00 - 9:00 Friday: 10:00 PM 1:00 AM PM HOURS: Saturday: 10:00 AM 5:00 PM To pick equipment up, come to the Middle School: Sunday: 3:00 - 5:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM 2:00 PM Treasure Mountain Middle School Highway 248 - Park City Admission: Friday Night $5 Saturday & Sunday: $2 Kids under 12 are free For more information, please calli to not, to researchers (MIP), the gene pro- researcher, Dr. Manny Pulator, explained the so-called PGene could lead to such statements 3,4,5 ...1995 bring it to the Middle often than duces an enzyme that allows the telling of a falsehood without the usual pangs of guilt associated with lying. Lead SKI SWAP and SALE November more according who have just finished an exhaustive study. The gene, known as the “P” Gene, was recently found in 73 percent of all politicians tested over a ten-year period, according to research published in the New England Journal of Schizophrenic Medicine. According to a research team at the Massachusetts Institute of as G—4+O- 8749 “Read my lips, no new taxes.” And even proclamations like: “I smoked marijuana but I didn't inhale.” “This research is groundbreaking,” Dr. Pulator noted, “because although it doesn’t require the carrier to lie, it allows the telling of a falsehood with no apparent psychological repercussions.” As Dr. Pulator explained it, in people without the lying gene, blood pressure, perspiration and eye blinking increase when a falsehood is stated. Those physical reactions are related to negative impulses from the conscience and a little-known gland called the Islets of Jimminy Cricket. The research was carried out using blood samples of senators, congressmen, governors and police chiefs throughout the United States and Guam. Interestingly, none of the native people of Guam, known as Guamos, showed evidence of having the P-Gene. indicates that This, lying researchers in the say, South Pacific is not as prevalent as in the adjacent 48 states. Professor Pulator’s MIP research team used a control group of some 12,482 Americans. Their findings indicated that the P-Gene for lying reveals the behavior of a “dominant” gene — meaning it can override the gene for truth-telling in people who inherit both genes. Perhaps luckily, the P-Gene for lying was found in only 8 percent of the control group. Interestingly, however, most of that group found to be carrying the dishonest gene had chosen law as a profession. A to the MIP data, of 707 awyers tested, a whopping 87 percent were shown to be carrying the P-Gene for lying. The American Bar Association refused to comment on the new research. A spokesperson for the bar did say, however, that lawyers take a staunch ethical code that “requires them never to lie.” Cha ha ha.) Another disturbing fact, says Professor Pulator, P-Gene is is that because dominant, as time the goes on, a larger and larger segment of American society will be able to lie without.a negative reaction from their conscience. “Down the road, we are looking at an increasingly dishonest population,” he said. But there may be hope. The MIP team is working on a protein that could block the P-Gene and therefore make lying unacceptable to those who carry it. Preliminary findings indicate a _ little-known molecule found in broccoli and marijuana could act as a P-Gene blocker. Unfortunately, there are many people, like George Bush, who simply hate broccoli and refused to eat the stuff. And as for marijuana - well, now we know for sure that Bill Clinton didn’t inhale. @ PAGE 14. va Sa |