Dean Hamer

Dean Hamer (* May 29, 1951 in Montclair ) is a geneticist who is since 2005 director of the gene structure and regulation department at the National Cancer Institute of the United States (Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S. National Cancer Institute ). He took a bachelor's degree at Trinity College, Connecticut and graduated as "Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D. ) " at Harvard Medical School.

He is involved in two major scientific controversy. Together with Simon Levay, he developed the theory of the existence of a " gay gene ", the predetermined homosexuality in men. Later, he postulated the existence of a "god gene ", the VMAT2, which should be responsible for spiritual and religious experiences.

In addition to his scientific work in the narrower sense, he published a series of popular - science books and is the holder of several patents.

Publications (English)

  • The Science of Desire (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

Publications ( German )

  • The inescapable heritage. As our behavior is determined by our genes ( with Peter Copeland ), Bern; Munich; Vienna: Scherz Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-502-15288-8
  • The God gene. Why is our faith in the blood, Munich: Kösel Verlag 2006, ISBN 978-3-466-36727-6
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