There is an article that is a bit older, but still very interesting, from Science Magazine. Scientists have been working finding the genetic variants that are associated with mental illness. A GWAS (genome-wide association studies) was conducted on a group of African Americans to try and find the loci that may be responsible for an inheritable trait of happiness. They were able to identify a specific loci that was strongly associated with an individual with more positive emotional experiences.
Genetics is incredible in the fact that every day that passes we learn a little more. I find it fascinating that so many traits, which are not limited to physical traits, are determined by an individual's genetic coding. I am eager to see how the identification of these genes in conjunction with advances in gene therapies; changes how much of the inherited self can be modified.
In psychology it is known that children are born with a temperament. Some traits are passed or were affected by the mom's moods and experiences during pregnancy. I think it would be very interesting to know how much of this has to do with genetics and how the genes of a fetus/baby are affected by the hormones the mother produced during pregnancy, and how much of this was hereditary.
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