Wellington criminologist Dr Michael Roguski said the "jury was still out" on whether a criminal gene existed.
Dr Roguski said ideas of a criminal gene could quickly snowball into undesirable or oppressive activities such as racial profiling and eugenics.
He also said the idea of a criminal gene could be a way for society to absolve itself of responsibility for the conditions that exacerbated crime.
"It's very easy for society to say that the deficit's in the individual, rather than understanding the context within the wider society and the social pressures of say, unemployment, or childhood abuse. I lean more towards nurture, not nature."
In 2002, Dr Avshalom Caspi and colleagues published a paper examining the role of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) in the development of antisocial behaviours.
The researchers tracked people born in Dunedin in the early 1970s.
Their findings showed MAOA modified associations between childhood abuse and antisocial behaviour, and people with the low-activity MAOA variant were more responsive to the effects of maltreatment than the high-activity group.
Low activity of the gene meant neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine were not properly metabolised.
Last year, a study published in Molecular Psychiatry said at least 5-10 per cent of all violent crime in Finland could be attributed to individuals with the MAOA and CDH13 genotypes.
Dr Wilson said New Zealanders would have to start talking about the consequences of research previously limited to the realms of science fiction.
"With the growing use of DNA databases, there are issues around privacy and individual rights that need to be considered."
She said society would have to ask if everyone should be tested, and how to respond if such a gene was identified.
