Fasting day today.
In the nurture vs nature debate I have always been more on the nurture side, although recognising that nature has some part to play too in determining our personalities. Today I read a book review (Blueprint by Robert Plomin) in the Guardian which seems to indicate that personalities are to a large extent genetic. What's interesting is that the book is based on a combination of advances in science and availability of data. The complete human genome was mapped in 2004 since then DNA testing has become widely used both for medical and for social reasons. This means that there is en increasing amount of data which can be analysed to identify correlations. The main conclusion is that there are no intelligence or kindness genes but that there are polygenic personality traits which are explained by thousands of small differences in our DNA. It is therefore possible to identify that certain combinations can account for a propensity to obesity, depression, intelligence or anxiety. The reassuring aspect is that the identified combinations are so complex that it is not possible (at this time) to artificially create those combinations, so not creation of "perfect"babies. However it is possible to imagine that as we collect ever more DNA samples and apply ever more data processing power we will be in a position to predict what are a person's genetic personality propensities. thankfully a propensity is not set in stone and nurture can possible enhance or dampen a natural disposition. On a more personal note I wonder if was genetically programmed to fall in love with an American-Jew who emigrated from Moldova and then spent 20 years in France ?
In the nurture vs nature debate I have always been more on the nurture side, although recognising that nature has some part to play too in determining our personalities. Today I read a book review (Blueprint by Robert Plomin) in the Guardian which seems to indicate that personalities are to a large extent genetic. What's interesting is that the book is based on a combination of advances in science and availability of data. The complete human genome was mapped in 2004 since then DNA testing has become widely used both for medical and for social reasons. This means that there is en increasing amount of data which can be analysed to identify correlations. The main conclusion is that there are no intelligence or kindness genes but that there are polygenic personality traits which are explained by thousands of small differences in our DNA. It is therefore possible to identify that certain combinations can account for a propensity to obesity, depression, intelligence or anxiety. The reassuring aspect is that the identified combinations are so complex that it is not possible (at this time) to artificially create those combinations, so not creation of "perfect"babies. However it is possible to imagine that as we collect ever more DNA samples and apply ever more data processing power we will be in a position to predict what are a person's genetic personality propensities. thankfully a propensity is not set in stone and nurture can possible enhance or dampen a natural disposition. On a more personal note I wonder if was genetically programmed to fall in love with an American-Jew who emigrated from Moldova and then spent 20 years in France ?
No comments:
Post a Comment