People who get a kick out of bungee jumping and skydiving are apparently genetically predisposed to such activities.
Israeli and American researchers have isolated a gene that is believed to be responsible for 10 percent of people’s adventurous and risk-taking behavior.
The finding was made by doctors at the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, the Beersheba Mental Health Center and the Herzog Memorial Ezrat-Nashim Hospital in Jerusalem.
Their research duplicated that of their colleagues at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
The head of research at Herzog Hospital, Dr. Richard Ebstein, said the gene, called D4DR, was first discovered in the United States in 1991.
He added that it functions in the section of the brain which controls emotions.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
