Word: d2
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...dopamine genes known as D2 and D4 might also play a role in drug abuse, for similar reasons. Both these genes, it turns out, contain the blueprints for assembling what scientists call a receptor, a minuscule bump on the surface of cells to which biologically active molecules are attracted. And just as a finger lights up a room by merely flicking a switch, so dopamine triggers a sequence of chemical reactions each time it binds to one of its five known receptors. Genetic differences that reduce the sensitivity of these receptors or decrease their number could diminish the sensation...
...problem is, studies that have purported to find a basis for addiction in variations of the D2 and D4 genes have not held up under scrutiny. Indeed, most scientists think addiction probably involves an intricate dance between environmental influences and multiple genes, some of which may influence dopamine activity only indirectly. This has not stopped some researchers from promoting the provocative theory that many people who become alcoholics and drug addicts suffer from an inherited condition dubbed the reward-deficiency syndrome. Low dopamine levels caused by a particular version of the D2 gene, they say, may link a breathtaking array...
Only a boy's life, however. There are cheerleaders and girlfriends and the rare token female participant (two girls on D2's hockey team), but sports movies are about male bonding. Beating the other guy displays primeval survival skills; getting the crap kicked out of you and not whining proves you are a man; talkin' trash makes you cool. Above the Rim, a gamy but conventional film about a high school basketball phenom detoured on his road to Georgetown by Harlem sleaze kings, is all about not letting street sarcasm get you down. A stream of abuse is the musical...
...when Hollywood plays the big game, nice guys always finish first. The Cleveland Indians will take the American League pennant -- not on the field this year, perhaps, but in Major League II. A ragtag rainbow coalition of teens will win a junior hockey championship in D2 The Mighty Ducks. Whether the game is big-time baseball (Rookie of the Year, Mr. Baseball) or college football (The Program, Rudy), basketball on the campus (Blue Chips) or on the playground (White Men Can't Jump, Above the Rim), boxing (Gladiator) or figure skating (The Cutting Edge), victory is never in doubt...
...odds, and goaded by the desire to avenge his dead or absent father, a nobody toils heroically to become a star. He learns both to be himself and to merge with his team. His opponents are either Nazi-oid stepfather figures or faceless goons (the Icelandic hockey players in D2 are outfitted like S&M Darth Vaders). If the movie is a sequel and stars one of Martin Sheen's sons (Charlie Sheen in the easy-to-take Major League II, Emilio Estevez in the noisome D2), the hero will go soft until he rediscovers the heart and guts...