It's a bird! It's a plane! No - it's an XXY Supermale attempting to evade a crime based on his genome.

Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, lectured on behavioral genetics and its relation to crime last night in Houston Hall.

And no, the "Supermale" claim will not prove insanity in a court of law.

Appelbaum, a former president of the American Psychiatric Society, discussed to a full audience of students, professors and members of the scientific community the correlation between levels of the enzyme Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) and antisocial behaviors.

With just a simple swab of the cheek, a geneticist can test for MAOA levels in an individual's body and therefore predict whether he or she is predisposed to violent acts.

As Appelbaum explained, individuals that face "severe childhood mistreatment and low levels of MAOA have a much higher rate of antisocial behavior" such as theft and rape.

Although this genetic data demonstrates a propensity to violent crime, individuals with low levels of MAOA are not considered insane or not guilty in a court of law.

"Only when influences overwhelm rationality and/or ability to control behavior will law recognize a state of non-culpability," Appelbaum said.

Psychology and Law professor Stephen Morse agreed, saying that "causations and predictability are not negations of responsibility."

However, while the genetics of MAOA cannot be used in a court of law to vindicate a defendant, Appelbaum explained, it may be used to prevent that defendant from ever entering the courtroom.

Appelbaum refuted one proposed method of crime prevention: screening all male victims of child abuse for low MAOA levels.

The problem with this method lies in where to place these individuals if they are removed from their homes, since the "foster care system in America is abysmal," he said.

Appelbaum postulated testing every newborn for levels of MAOA, leading to mothers learning of the possibility of a "little Al Capone" in the family.

But Appelbaum also questioned how far genetic testing of MAOA levels should go in the name of crime prevention.

For example, he questioned the ethics behind "screening fetuses prenatally to decide whether or not to abort your juvenile delinquent."

For this reason, Bioethics professor Arthur Caplan stressed that MAOA data must be made public so that it can be criticized.

The lecture was the inaugural event sponsored by the Scattergood Program for the Applied Ethics of Behavioral Health.