The DNA in question, the FAAH gene, makes a protein that affects feelings of pleasure and pain. People with a particular version of it tend to be cheerier souls.
這種尚在研究的基因叫做脂肪酸酰胺水解酶（FAAH）基因，它能夠合成一種影響人的悲喜的蛋白質，擁有這種特殊種類蛋白質的人會更快樂。

However, wealth and health were found to have little effect on happiness. The researchers said the find could help explain why some of the world's poorest nations are also the happiest.
然而，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)財富和健康對幸福并無多大影響。研究人員說這項發(fā)現(xiàn)有助于解釋為什么世界上最貧窮的一些國家也是最幸福的。

The team from Bulgaria and Hong Kong looked at whether there was a link between levels of the FAAH gene in a population and number of people who said they were 'very happy' in global study of life satisfaction.
通過對擁有幸福基因的人與在全球生活滿意度調查中聲稱自己非常幸福的人進行調查，來自保加利亞和香港的研究團隊試圖尋找到他們之間的聯(lián)系。

Sweden – one of the happiest countries in Europe and in the world – also had lots of happy DNA. Some 26.3 percent of Swedes have the happiness gene, compared to 23 percent of Britons, 21 percent of the French and 20 percent of Germans.
瑞典是歐洲也是世界上最幸福的國家，瑞典人有大量幸福DNA。大約26.3%的瑞典人有幸福基因，英國為23%，法國為21%，德國為20%。

The happiness gene is even rarer in southern Europe, where it is found in 18 per cent of Greeks and just 12 percent of Italians.
幸福基因在南歐國家較為缺乏，只有18%的希臘人和12%的意大利人擁有這種基因。

Further afield, Ghana, Nigeria, Mexico and Columbia all came out near the top in the happiness league – and sported high rates of the gene.
其他的地方，像加納、尼日利亞、墨西哥和哥倫比亞在幸福水平方面名列前茅，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)他們的幸福基因含量很高。

In contrast, the peoples of Iraq, Jordan, China were among the least likely to rate themselves as 'very happy' and also had the lowest levels of the gene.
與之相反，伊拉克，約旦和中國的居民是最不幸福的，而他們的幸福基因水平也是最低的。

But the gene and an optimistic outlook didn't always go hand in hand.
然而這種幸福基因和幸福感并不總是成正比的。

For instance, Russians and Estonians score very low on happiness, despite having the 'right' DNA, the Journal of Happiness Studies reports.
比如，《幸福研究》雜志報道，盡管俄羅斯人和愛沙尼亞人擁有足夠的幸福基因，但他們的幸福得分很低。

Climatic differences were also found to be significantly associated with national differences in happiness.
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，氣候的不同也會在很大程度上影響到國家幸福水平。

Study co-author Michael Minkov, of the Varna University of Management, said: 'We cannot fail to notice the high occurrence of the gene in equatorial and tropical environments in the Americas and Africa - and the lower occurrence of [it] around the Mediterranean Sea than in Northern Europe.
研究的作者之一、瓦爾納管理大學的邁克爾·明科夫說：“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲、非洲的赤道和熱帶地區(qū)幸福基因較多，地中海地區(qū)的幸福基因比北歐地區(qū)要少。”

A spokesman for the journal's publisher, Springer, said: 'Genetics is not the only determinant of happiness.
這本雜志的出版商斯普林格出版社的發(fā)言人說：“基因并不是決定幸福的唯一因素。”

'The economic and political difficulties continuously experienced by Eastern European nations contribute to the very low happiness scores of Russians and Estonians.'
東歐國家不斷經歷的經濟和政治困難導致了俄羅斯和愛沙尼亞的幸福得分很低。

Researcher Professor Michael Minkov, of Sofia's Varna University, said that nations not blessed with the right DNA aren't necessarily destined to be miserable – happiness can still raise and fall for other reasons.
瓦爾納大學的研究教授邁克爾·明科夫說，沒有幸福基因的國家不一定就不幸福。幸福水平還受到很多其他因素影響。

英文來源：每日郵報
譯者：由薈圓
審校&編輯：丹妮