The BBC is reporting today that researchers have identified a "binge-drinking" gene that "hard-wires" some people for binge drinking by "boosting levels of a happy brain chemical."
Yes, the BBC.
Alcoholism is a complicated illness; it's unlikely that one gene "hard-wires" people to be binge drinkers. Yet the unbylined story expresses no skepticism. Curiously, it contradicts itself by also saying that the gene "is one of many" already linked to problem drinking.
The story, in its last paragraph, turns to one outside expert who says the finding is useful, but "that's not to say that if you have this gene you should never touch alcohol or if you don't have the gene then it will be fine for you to drink." The gene does not "hard-wire" anyone for anything. If the BBC believed that quote, why did it report otherwise? If it didn't believe the quote, why include it?
Oh, and five consecutive paragraphs in the middle of the story were taken directly from a university press release, but were made to look like quotes obtained by the BBC.
A Reuters story avoided "hard-wired" but quoted from the press release and included no assessment from other researchers.
-Paul Raeburn
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