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Depression is biologically based, yet it clearly is influenced by life events. Researchers now explain how genetic and environmental factors might interact. New Zealand epidemiologists followed 847 white children from age 3 until age 26 and recorded stressful life events (involving employment, finance, housing, health, and relationship stressors) as well as psychiatric events. In addition, they sequenced each participant's serotonin transporter gene; this gene has short (s) and long (l) alleles.
The analyses were restricted to people who had not experienced major stressors or depressive episodes before age 21; therefore, the analyzed time window was age 21 to 26. Compared with subjects who were homozygous for the l allele, subjects who carri…