In this article, the authors summarise their concerns with regard to the veracity and ethics of the “warrior gene” line of research. They raise concerns with regard to the informed consent process. In line with ethical principals of research, all participants should have been advised that the research included the exploration of hypotheses linking the “warrior gene” with violent and antisocial behaviour, and that results may be extrapolated from the research participants to the larger Mäori population despite the lack of evidence for association between the two. The authors ask questions about the scientific validity of an approach which has extrapolated from a small, likely non-random sample of Mäori males to not only the entire contemporary male Mäori population, but also to past generations. They also point to a lack of any association between genotype alone and anti-social behaviour from previous research and the risks of making a claim of causality on the evidence of association alone. Finally, the authors highlight the issue of skewed reporting and hype by the media, and comment that; “In such highly charged social and political settings, the scientist has a particular responsibility for the way in which findings are disseminated and for ensuring a clear public understanding of the limitations of the work to date.”
