Genetics is rarely just about genes

If you want a crystal clear introduction to the role genetics can play in human nature, you can’t do much better than an article in The Guardian’s Sifting the Evidence blog by epidemiologist Marcus Munafo.

It’s been giving a slightly distracting title – but ignore that – and just read the main text.

Are we shaped more by our genes or our environment – the age-old question of nature and nurture? This is really a false dichotomy; few, if any, scientists working in the area of human behaviour would adhere to either an extreme nature or extreme nurture position. But what do we mean when we say that our behaviours are influenced by genetic factors? And how do we know?

It will be one of the most useful 20 minutes you’ll spend this week.

 

Link to excellent introduction to genetics and human behaviour.