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Genetic studies commonly focus on risk, identifying alleles that are associated with vulnerability to disease or negative health behaviors. An alternative approach, based on the differential susceptibility hypothesis, is to study how alleles can be associated with greater plasticity or susceptibility to the environment, making their ultimate effects either positive or negative depending on environmental quality.
The DRD4 7-repeat allele has been associated with obesity and with plasticity in previous studies. Its role in nutritional intake (% of calories from fat) was studied in 190 Canadian children enrolled in an ongoing prospective cohort study, of whom 78 had the 7-repeat allele (DRD4-7+) and 112 did not (DRD4-7–). Data in the current an…