Genetics could be partially responsible for the lack of fitness to drive . A team of scientists at the University of California at Irvine has detected a genetic variation whose carriers show 20 percent worse results in driving tests than subjects with a different DNA sequence. The gene it affects controls a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, related to memory .
According to Steven Cramer and his colleagues in the journal Cerebral Cortex , in the United States about 30 percent of the inhabitants present this variation. "These people make more mistakes since they start driving and forget more of what they learned over time," says Cramer.
"I'm curious to study the genetics of people who get into car accidents ," he added. "I wonder if the accident rate will be higher in drivers with this variation."
