Dean Hamer

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**Dean Hamer**

Born	1951
Field	Genetics
Institution	National Cancer Institute
Known for	Xq28

Dr Dean Hamer (born 1951) is a geneticist, who, as of 2005 is the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health). He obtained his BA at Trinity College, CT, USA and his Ph.D from Harvard Medical School.

He was a co-inventor of gene transfer in animal cells and the first to produce growth hormones, vaccine subunits, and other useful products by this approach. He also pioneered the use of gene transfer to study gene regulation during development and changes in the environment.

In the 1990s Hamer began studies of the role of genes in human behavior. He has been involved in two major scientific controversies. Together with Simon LeVay he has postulated the existence of a gay gene that predisposes men towards homosexuality; in 1993 he published research about the Xq28 marker on the X chromosome and its correlation with homosexuality in men. However, in his own words, 'There is not a single master gene that makes people gay...'

More recently, he has postulated the existence of a God gene for religious experience.

In addition to his scientific work, he has published a number of popular science books aimed at a general readership and is also the holder of a number of patents.

[edit] Publications

The Science of Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene and the Biology of Behavior (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