Gene Study: Subjective Well-Being Roots Discovered, Causes Happiness To Humans

Happiness genes have been found in an extensive research that involved more than 190 researches, 17 countries, and 140 research centers. The research is considered as among the biggest researches ever made about genes in the human behavior.

The happiness genes, which is related to the feeling of well-being, were described by the research team through the journal Nature. The team showed how it examined the genomic information from the hundreds of thousands of people to determine the particular genetic variant.  

According to Baylor College of Medicine assistant professor of pediatrics Alexis Frazier-Wood, they found three genetic variants related to subjective well-being. He also revealed finding two genes bearing variants linked to  depressive symptoms, including 11 genes where the variation was linked to neuroticism. In addition to this, they also discovered that the gene variants are mostly manifested in adrenal or pancreas tissues and in the central nervous system.

The study was carried out by a meta-analysis, which brought together the genomic information from several other studies. Also, advanced statistical methods were used to evaluate the pooled data like it came from a study of 298,000 people.

The previous studies have indicated that differences in well-being and happiness could be related to genetic differences among people. An increasing interest in the subject is noted as the growing proof implies that well-being is an element in the physical and mental health. But the researchers took note that genes are not the entire story in terms of finding out how people feel and think about their lives. According to the them, the environment and how it connects with the genes is also important.

The researchers believe that the discovery, which is available for future research, can help in clarifying the concept of what brings the differences in happiness. They also consider this major breakthrough as only the start, believing that the variants they have traced are only a small portion of what awaits to be discovered.