The Jaina Doctrine of Karma And The Science Of Genetics: Role Of Genes In Karma Vipaka (Rise)

There are many different serotonin receptors, each of which is produced by its own distinct gene. Already more than a dozen distinct serotonin receptors have been identified and their genes have been cloned. This diversity of receptors, along with the widespread geographic distribution of the serotonin nerve cells, is why serotonin effects so many different brain functions. But there is only one serotonin transporter, which comes from just one gene. So anything that effects the secrotonin transporter will effect all the psychological traits controlled by serotonin. ^[51] This can be compared with karma vipaka.

Fortunately there are two scientists working on the serotonin transporter gene who were not so fickle: Dennis Murphy, a senior NIMH researcher who has been studying serotonin for more than 20 years and Peter Lesch, a formar postdoctrol fellow with Murphy who now heads his own laboratory at the university of Wurzburg in Germany. They were particularly interested in how the gene was turned on and off by signals from the body such as harmones and stress. They went beyond the gene itself to look at bits of DNA upstream that promote the activation of the transporter gene. There was one region of the gene that was especially intriguing because it has an unsual composition and structure. Also when this bit of DNA upstream that promote the activation of the transporter gene. There was one region of the gene that was especially intriguing because it has an unusual composition and structure. Also when this bit of DNA was removed, the activation or expression of the gene increased. That meant the region was designed to slow down the process of turning on the gene. Intriguingly, the region contained 16 imperfect repetitions of the same sequence of 21 to 22 bases. It was like a piece of music repeated 16 times with slight variations. Less suspected that this repeated structure might be important because such sequences were often different from one person to the next.^[52]

If this is happening in society at large, it does not take much imagination to realize that a person who is born in poverty, who lives in a slump, who does not have a good education, who has the "wrong" skin colour, religion or language might expect to have low social status. With that comes low serotoin: and with low serotonin comes aggressiveness, hostility and violence which of course can only lead to more of the same. Obviously this tendency to violence occurs only to a small minority, even in the worst environments, so other factors are at work.^[53] This can be compared with karma vipaka of individual.

The first signs of Parkinson's disease are stable. An author notices that certain keys on his computer keyboard are hard to press. A seam stress has difficulty threading her needle. Slowly but surely the symtoms worson. The slight weakness in our finger spreads to the entire hand, then to the arm and leg. The minor tremble becomes a constant palsy that can explode into spastic fits. One's gait becomes hesitant, then slows to a shuffle. Speech become slurred, and the face becomes frozen and expressionless. Towards the end even simple daily functions like getting dressed and eating become impossible.

These symptoms are due to the loss of a single brain chemical: dopamine - a monoamine involved both in motor functions and in reward pathways. As the disease progresses, the cells producing dopamine in the striatum and substantia nigra gradually die off. By the time the symptoms are severe enough to warrant a visit to a doctor, only 10 to 20 percent of the normal number are left. The underlying causes of the disease are due to inclusion of faulty genes, internal or external toxins, and viral infections. The first treatment of Parkinson's disease was a drug called levodopa, a precursor of dopamine. In some patients it brought about a miraculous cure - but it also led to debilitating side effects, including nausea, dizziness and confusion. An improved verson that is less rapidly metabolized and thus requires lower dozes is now available but it is still a toxic medicine that can cause as many problems as it solves.^[54] This is a good example of karma vipaka.

There are examples of mental disorder that have been properly mapped one of them Huntington's Chorea is an incurable disease that slowly destroys the brain is caused by a single, dominant gene on chromosome.

Alzheimer's disease is not caused by a single gene there are many examples of identical twins who do not share the disease but research has found a substantial genetic component involving at least three genes. The first gene is involved in the rare cases where the disease strikes during middle age. Analysis of the brain plaques in these sufferer implicated a protein called beta-amyloid, which is produced by a gene on chromosome 21, the same chromosome involved in Down syndrome. In several families, all the younger victims of Alzhemeir's had a mutation in the middle of the beta-amyloid gene.^[55]

Reading from careful notes, wesoky expressed surprise when I told him that the difference between the DNA of one person and the next was about 0.1 percent. He seemed incredulous that such a small amount of genetic difference could explain so many differences between people, including their sexual orientation. I told him that 0.1 percent might not sound like a lot, but it actually correspondence to three million chemical base pairs, which is a very large difference.

Apparently seeing a weak point, he asked if that mere 0.1 percent difference could account for the fact that he is short and I am medium height. I hold him yes, then he asked whether the little 0.1 percent difference could account for the fact that was part of reason, but age was not important. Still pressing, he asked whether that 0.1 percent could account for the fact that he has a bigger bone structure than me, and I explained that three million differences were more than enough to explain that minor discripencies in our physique. What worked best was when I told wesoky that although the difference between us was "only" 0.1 percent the difference between him and a chimpanzee was not much larger, about 1 percent.^[56]

Genes not only help determine how we look, but how we act, feel and experience life. In case after case discovered by researchers nature won over our nurture.^[57] This is not to say that shyness is not biological, but a better way to search for biology's role is to look directly at genes.^[58] With the mutation of genes disease take place. With the karma vipaka also diseases happen to some one.

Emotional instinct - The dictionary definition of personality is "The sum total of the mental, emotional, social and physical characteristics of an individual". It is personality that determines the way your react to others, the way you communicate, the way you think and express emotions. These are the outward manifestations of basic traits that characterize a personality throughout life. Your thoughts, fears, hopes, reactions, behaviors and dreams all come from this core personality.

Personality determines not just being but behaving. It influences how much you eat, drink, smoke and sleep. Personality determines whether you are aggressive or shy, active or passive, who you are attracted to, and what you want to do with them if they will let you. It influences the amount of stress in your life, your physical health or whether you live in pain or pleasure, in a sleepy haze or a high octnane blur. Personality is so complex that even though millions of people have walked the earth, no two have ever been the same. Just as the physical body has a seemingly unlimited variety, so does the personality that makes the body get up and go. Personality is what makes each person unique.

The latest research in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience shows that many core personality traits are inherited at birth, and that many of the difference between individual personality styles are the results of difference in genes. When you are conceived by two people, you are created from their genes. You are the product of generations of evolution, countless bits of information collected over millions of years, focused, narrowed and refined until you were pushed out of the birth canal into the world. You look like the people in your family - and in some respects you feel and act like them, too. You have about as much choice in some aspects of your personality as you do in the shape of your nose or the size of your feet. Psychologists call this biology, in born dimension of personality "temperament".^[59]

Genes can influence not just whether a person uses a drug but also how the drug effects the person.^[60] Thus with the variation (mutation) of genes different diseases happen to individual. Similarly with the rise of asātā vedaniya karma and aśubha body nāma karma one becomes patient due to some diseases.