“[James Watson] told the Sunday Times in 2007 that while people may like to thin
ID: 149728 • Letter: #
Question
“[James Watson] told the Sunday Times in 2007 that while people may like to think that all races are born with equal intelligence, those “who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.” (Yes, like Watson and Crick. This quote is from an Opinion piece in The Guardian in 2014. Also, I am compelled to point out that there are also no “races” in Homo sapiens, only ethnicities). In the quote, Watson is positing that some ethnicities are genetically-predetermined to be less intelligent than others. What does the work of Reitveld et al. (2013) tell us about the likelihood of a genetic basis for intellect with ethnicity-specific alleles?
How does participant selection potentially bias the interpretation of GWAS (HINT: look back at some of your scientific communication papers)?
Explanation / Answer
GWAS- A genome-wide associated study to understand the relationship between the presence of genetic variations and the observed phenotypes across the populations Reitveld study shows an association between SNP's and mental capacity/cognitive function indicated through the obtainment of advanced grades and degrees. Although the genes and the phenotypical data are related often the influence of the living environment of an individual is ignored. The behaviour of the mother during pregnancy such as alcohol consumption, smoking and physical injury. During the growth of the child mental trauma and financial conditions also play a role in enhancing the cognitive function.
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