Deborah Denno, founding director of the Neuroscience and Law Center at Fordham Law School, was quoted in Popular Science on how behavioral genetics are being used in criminal defense cases.
Criminal defense cases have cited genetics nearly 80 times in the U.S. between 1994 and 2011. “Attorneys are getting more sophisticated in looking for explanations for behavior,” says Deborah Denno, director of the Fordham University Neuroscience and Law Center.
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But Denno says the role of gene variants, and links to increased risks of violence, has been misunderstood in the courts and by the media. Behavioral genetics seeks to study genetic as well as environmental sources for clues to behavior. It is interdisciplinary, incorporating psychology, sociology, statistics, and other fields. “While genes influence behavior,” Denno has noted, “they do not govern nor determine it.”
