Bruce Lahn has always been something of a rebel. As an undergraduate at Beijing University in the late-1980s, Lahn was a ringleader in the first wave of student prodemocracy protests. "I was fiercely opposed to the communist ideology," he says. "I just didn't want to be told what to do, especially if it didn't come with a reason." These early rallies set the stage for the huge demonstrations that would culminate in the infamous crackdown in Tiananmen Square.
Although Lahn had transferred to Harvard University by the time the government sent in the tanks, his disgust with the system helped shape his scientific career. "I had this idea that the problems with China, in addition to being social, might also have a genetic root." Indeed, all human behavior – our tendency toward violence as well as our capacity for kindness – must, to some extent, be encoded in our DNA. ...
