It goes without saying that most of us want to be happy. Life coaches, health gurus and clinical psychologists make a very good living from offering us advice and guidance on how to achieve the most satisfactory balance in love, relationships and work. ‘Wellbeing’ is now a huge industry. But what if the real key to happiness lies in our genes?
Consumer testing for finding your ancestry is now common, and there are genomic tests for allergies, food intolerances and the likelihood of developing certain diseases. Now, a home test claims to offer the chance to find out if your own genes predispose you to happiness or to being less happy in life.
“Happiness is a fundamental goal for most people, and we all tend to consciously or unconsciously engage in activities or actions designed to enhance our levels of happiness. However, it is not only behavioural but deeply rooted in psychology and neuroscience,” says Dr Avinash Narayanan, clinical lead at London Medical Laboratory, a genome testing service.
As we know, fleeting happiness can arise from life events, from getting a new car or a pay rise, to seeing your family or taking a seaside walk. But a stable state of being happy greatly depends on our satisfaction with life, and how satisfied or dissatisfied we feel is influenced to a surprising degree by our genetics, explains Dr Narayanan.
Scientists call this relatively stable state of being happy ‘eudaimonia’ (a word with Greek origins, as Greek philosophers were the first to examine the state of happiness).
Dr Narayan claims London Medical Laboratory’s DNA genotype profile test, which costs around £300, can provide not only information about a person’s ancestry and the likely impact of certain medications, but also their predisposition to ‘eudaimonia’. The test also provides insights into nutrition, fitness and health from a genetic blueprint.
“From a simple saliva sample, taken at home, we can identify differences in genes responsible for parts of our actions and behaviour. For example, how well do our bodies process the brain chemical serotonin? Serotonin in the brain regulates your mood, and it’s sometimes called your body’s natural ‘feel-good’ chemical. When serotonin is at normal levels, we feel better focused, more stable and ‘happier’, while lower levels are often seen in people with depression.
“Genetic testing can tell us more about key genes such as human cannabinoid reeceptor 1 (CNR1). As its name implies, the CNR1 receptor can be activated by cannabis, but it’s usually activated by cannabinoids generated naturally inside the body (known as endocannabinoids).
“CNR1 is believed to be linked to how we process rewards, in very basic ways, such as seeing a friend’s smiling face. This is because it’s believed to play a role in the release of dopamine, another feel-good brain chemical. Dopamine plays a significant role in the brain’s reward system, and helps to reinforce certain behaviours which make us feel good, or ‘happy’.”
Dr Narayan goes on to explain that some variations of the CNR1 gene are now known to be particularly associated with positive emotional processing, and these variations are linked to two of the five basic building blocks of DNA, thymine and cytosine.
He cites one study, published by the Public Library of Science, in which scientists in the US found there were marked differences in the subjective happiness level between ‘cytosine allele’ (CA) carriers and ‘thymine-thymine’ (TT) carriers of the CNR1 gene.
Compared with TT carriers, CA carriers have a higher ‘subjective’ happiness level. In a test, their positive mood after watching a ‘feel-good’ film was rated as ‘significantly higher’.
Dr Narayan says: “The CA carriers of the CNR1 gene generally showed greater positive emotions when they experienced positive events and had a higher ‘subjective’ happiness level.”
The genome test also looks at two other genes believed to play a strong role in cognition and mood: near HTR2Am, also linked to serotonin production, and COMPT, which plays a further role in dopamine production.
But Dr Narayan stresses that how predisposed we are to happiness is, of course, not entirely determined by genetics. Environmental factors, such as family, social and cultural influences, and psychosocial factors, including personality traits, cognition and emotional state, also play key roles. “These factors interact with genetics to shape an individual’s behaviour and attitudes. Genetics is only one piece of the puzzle, but an important one.”
James Ware, professor of cardiovascular and genomic medicine at Imperial College London and MRC Investigator at the MRC London Institute is not convinced the science is conclusive: “While it is possible to find individual genetic variants that correlate with many traits, such as height, weight or disease risk, common genetic variants like these typically have tiny effects, which means they have no value in making predictions about individual people or in making decisions about treatment or lifestyle.
“There are many spurious claims made online about genetic tests to assess whether your child has what it takes to become a professional footballer or to design a diet tailored to your genetics. They are not based on robust science and do not provide useful information.”
Adam Senessie, 33, from London, took the genotype test earlier this year and found some of the results puzzling. It revealed that, based on the genetic profile, Senessie might have “poor skills in mathematics”. In fact, Senessie has a science degree and has always prided himself on his mathematical ability.
He says: “I was initially interested in areas such as nutrition and any possible sensitivity to some medications, so I was surprised to find that the test rated my prospects for happiness as being good.”
“The results said I had a ‘very high likelihood of developing lifelong happiness’. I think many of the results are inter-connected, as I have made some changes to my diet and fitness regime as a direct consequence of the findings and I think if you can get these things right, that must feed into your overall sense of happiness.
He found some results more useful: “For example, the test found that I had a poor metabolism of vitamin D, which could mean I may be more susceptible to developing osteoporosis in later life, so it’s good to be aware of that. And it showed that, if I needed to take immunosuppressants at any stage (as patients with kidney failure need to do), my body may have a strong predisposition to reject them.”
“Overall, I think it’s a real gold mine of information.”
We all want to know more about ourselves and what drives us to behave and feel the way we do, so this test will probably prove popular. Will it add to the happiness of the nation? The jury is still out.