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>Actually, when they say that behavioral traits are heritable, are they saying that these genes are identified or is it just statistics? Typically it's just st
by bobcostas55 7y ago
>Actually, when they say that behavioral traits are heritable, are they saying that these genes are identified or is it just statistics?
Typically it's just statistics (usually based on twin studies). In the last few years we have started doing large Genome-Wide Association Studies (with sample sizes of over a million in some cases) which are a first step toward identifying the relevant genes.
But there are still many limitations: GWAS typically use SNP arrays which only measure specific points in the genome instead of sequencing the whole thing (because it's much cheaper). The SNPs identified may not be causal themselves but simply correlated with the causal gene.
- selfishgene 7y agoJust a few weeks ago someone posted the following study on hacker news: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3183507/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3183507/ Here the authors claim that they were able to identify a particular gene that is likely to predispose an individual to extreme impulsiveness.
- bobcostas55 7y agoThat's a candidate gene study, none of them replicate.
- shard972 7y agoAh so when it comes to genetics instead of social or climate science we need to approach with extreme skepticism.