The 'Happiness' Gene Has Been Discovered: Study

It has made a lot of people happy that scientists have discovered the human "happiness" gene. This is a huge discovery that would be of big help in treating depression as well as neuroticism.

Earlier research using information from the Netherlands Twin Register as well as other sources showed that differences in happiness and well-being might be due to genetic differences. Hence, happiness as well as well-being might be felt differently. There seems to be an increasing focus on well-being, as studies show that this is an important factor in maintaining mental and physical health.

In the latest study with a large-scale effort involving more than 298,000 people, experts discovered three genetic variants for happiness, in which two variants might account for differences in depressive symptoms.

The main areas in which the genetic variants for happiness are expressed include the central nervous system, the adrenal glands and pancreatic system.

"This study is both a milestone and a new beginning: A milestone because we are now certain that there is a genetic aspect to happiness and a new beginning because the three variants that we know are involved account for only a small fraction of the differences between human beings," said Meike Bartels, professor at VU Amsterdam and one of the researchers involved in the new study. "We expect that many variants will play a part."

Studying the genetic variants will help scientists to understand the links between nature and nurture and also show how people experience the feeling of joy.

"The genetic overlap with depressive symptoms that we have found is also a breakthrough," Bartels said. "This shows that research into happiness can offer new insights into the causes of one of the greatest medical challenges of our time: depression."

The findings are published in the April 2016 edition of the journal Nature Genetics.