Coroners seek powers to help researchers find genetic link to suicide

Coroners and academics have called for Hong Kong laws to be relaxed to allow researchers to extract tissue from suicide victims to help determine if there is a genetic link to suicide.

Australian and Canadian scientists have discovered that some people may be biologically predisposed to suicidal thoughts.

A genetic mutation appears to increase a person's odds of committing suicide by reducing the ability of brain cells to absorb serotonin, a neurotransmitter related to mood, emotion, appetite and sleep.

Researchers found that mutation in the serotonin transporter gene increased a person's chances of attempting suicide by threefold.

In the latest Coroners' Report published last year, two coroners, Michael Chan Pik-kiu and William Lam Kui-po, said a study of this kind could not be carried out under Hong Kong's legislation because coroners had no power to order such research .

Suicide is Hong Kong's most common form of traumatic death.

Paul Yip Siu-fai, a University of Hong Kong professor and director of the Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, said. 'We need to find out if there are predisposing factors in human genes which cause certain people to have more suicidal inclinations.