05 Oct The non-existence of an IQ gene
My last post brought up the endless discussion if people’s intelligence is mainly the product of nurture or nature. Now psychological scientist Christopher Chabris of Union College and David Laibson, a Harvard economist, have revealed that intelligence cannot be traced to a specific gene.
Previous studies of identical and fraternal twins have led us to believe that there might be such a gene as an IQ-gene, but after thorough investigation using large data sets that included both intelligence testing and genetic data, the researchers concluded that only one gene showed up and it had a very minimal effect.
This does not mean that genes do not play a part, only that there might be a combination of genes at play or genes in combination with environment. So no reason to sit back just because your daddy is a rocket scientist and your mama is a brain surgeon just yet!
Image: Luiz Fernando Reis/ Flickr
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