Teaching the Teachers the Genetics of Learning: An Application of the Mixed Blessings Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally A. Larsen ◽  
Callie Little
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
School Contexts ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
New Directions ◽  
And Behavior

Decades of educational genetics research has highlighted that differences in academic achievement are partly explained by genetic variation between individuals. Consequently, there is ongoing discussion about whether genetic influences on educationally-related traits should be more widely acknowledged in schools and communicated specifically to teachers. Nonetheless, there is little research on how teachers might interpret such information, and how it might alter their perceptions of the students they teach, or their teaching practice. In this review we draw on the mixed blessings model proposed by Haslam and Kvaale (2015) as a framework for defining both positive and negative repercussions of disseminating the findings of educational genetic research to teachers. We discuss research examining teacher perceptions of student ability and behavior, and findings outlining perceptions of psychological disorders when genetic explanations are invoked. We conclude by proposing new directions for research designed to better understand interpretations of genetic information in school contexts.

scholarly journals Advances in Genetics Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Genetics ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Fruit Flies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Single Shot ◽  
Genetic Method ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Mutagenic Chain Reaction

Genes are understandably crucial to physiology, morphology and biochemistry, but the idea of genes contributing to individual differences in behavior once seemed outrageous. Nevertheless, some scientists have aspired to understand the relationship between genes and behavior, and their research has become increasingly informative and productive over the past several decades. At the forefront of behavioral genetics research is the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, which has provided us with important insights into the molecular, cellular and evolutionary bases of behavior. By employing this development in their experiments with laboratory fruit flies, Gantz and Bier demonstrated that by arranging the standard components of this anti-viral defense system in a novel configuration, a mutation generated on one copy of a chromosome in fruit flies spreads automatically to the other chromosome. The end result, Bier says, is that both copies of a gene could be inactivated “in a single shot.” The two biologists call their new genetic method the “mutagenic chain reaction,” or MCR. “MCR is remarkably active in all cells of the body with one result being that such mutations are transmitted to offspring via the germline with 95 percent efficiency. Thus, nearly all gametes of an MCR individual carry the mutation in contrast to a typical mutant carrier in which only half of the reproductive cells are mutant.” Bier says “there are several profound consequences of MCR. First, the ability to mutate both copies of a gene in a single generation should greatly accelerate genetic research in diverse species. For example, to generate mutations in two genes at once in an organism is typically time consuming, because it requires two generations, and involved, because it requires genetic testing to identify rare progeny carrying both mutations. Now, one should simply be able to cross individuals harboring two different MCR mutants to each other and all their direct progeny should be mutant for both genes.”

scholarly journals Informed Consent for Genetics Research in Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piergiorgio Fedeli ◽  
Nunzia Cannovo ◽  
Rosa Guarino ◽  
Vincenzo Graziano
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Information ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Health Utility ◽  
Family Risk ◽  
The Public ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Freedom And Responsibility

Background:Genetic research has become an indispensable instrument for medical research, and the subjects involved have both divergent and convergent interests.Objective:The possibility of having more detailed genetic information undoubtedly offers benefits for the health of the subject, but could also pose risks and make the subject vulnerable to discrimination.The scientific community has viewed very favorably the public health utility of family history, in which data from a family whose members suffer from chronic pathologies is collected and filed, in order to develop a sort of "stratification of family risk."Even though in the last decade the scientific and juridical literature has contributed greatly to the topic of biobanks, the perplexities that continue to surround this theme give the idea that current ethical protocols on research are inadequate.Conclusion:Genetic data must be used not to exploit, but to serve the person. Freedom and responsibility must be the twin guiding lights for establishing parameters for the use of biological samples. An evaluation of how this technology impacts the various aspects of the future of society is urgently needed.

scholarly journals Inbred lab mice are not isogenic: genetic variation within inbred strains used to infer the mutation rate per nucleotide site

Heredity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-116
Author(s):  
Jobran Chebib ◽  
Benjamin C. Jackson ◽  
Eugenio López-Cortegano ◽  
Diethard Tautz ◽  
Peter D. Keightley
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Inbred Mice ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Inbred Strains ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Nucleotide Mutation ◽  
Commercial Breeder ◽  
Mutation Rate Estimate

AbstractFor over a century, inbred mice have been used in many areas of genetics research to gain insight into the genetic variation underlying traits of interest. The generalizability of any genetic research study in inbred mice is dependent upon all individual mice being genetically identical, which in turn is dependent on the breeding designs of companies that supply inbred mice to researchers. Here, we compare whole-genome sequences from individuals of four commonly used inbred strains that were procured from either the colony nucleus or from a production colony (which can be as many as ten generations removed from the nucleus) of a large commercial breeder, in order to investigate the extent and nature of genetic variation within and between individuals. We found that individuals within strains are not isogenic, and there are differences in the levels of genetic variation that are explained by differences in the genetic distance from the colony nucleus. In addition, we employ a novel approach to mutation rate estimation based on the observed genetic variation and the expected site frequency spectrum at equilibrium, given a fully inbred breeding design. We find that it provides a reasonable per nucleotide mutation rate estimate when mice come from the colony nucleus (~7.9 × 10−9 in C3H/HeN), but substantially inflated estimates when mice come from production colonies.

Revitalizing Difference in the HapMap: Race and Contemporary Human Genetic Variation Research

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Human Genetic Variation ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Social ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Human Genome Project

In 2000, researchers from the Human Genome Project (HGP) proclaimed that the initial sequencing of the human genome definitively proved, among other things, that there was no genetic basis for race. The genetic fact that most humans were 99.9% the same at the level of their DNA was widely heralded and circulated in the English-speaking press, especially in the United States. This pronouncement seemed proof that long-term antiracist efforts to de-biologize race were legitimized by scientific findings. Yet, despite the seemingly widespread acceptance of the social construction of race, post-HGP genetic science has seen a substantial shift toward the use of race variables in genetic research and, according to a number of prominent scholars, is re-invoking the specter of earlier forms of racial science in some rather discomfiting ways. During the past seven years, the main thrust of human genetic research, especially in the realm of biomedicine, has shifted from a concern with the 99.9% of the shared genome — what is thought to make humans alike — towards an explicit focus on the 0.1% that constitutes human genetic variation. Here I briefly explore some of the potential implications of the conceptualization and practice of early 21st century genetic variation research, especially as it relates to questions of race.

Poster #M195 THE INTERACTION BETWEEN CNR1 GENETIC VARIATION AND CANNABIS EXPOSURE PREDICTS PREFRONTAL FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY AND BEHAVIOR DURING WORKING MEMORY

2014 ◽  
Vol 153 ◽  
pp. S261
Author(s):  
Marco Colizzi ◽  
Leonardo Fazio ◽  
Laura Ferranti ◽  
Annamaria Porcelli ◽  
Rita Masellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
And Behavior

Associations between insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-1, insulin and other metabolic measures after controlling for genetic influences: results from middle-aged and elderly monozygotic twins

1997 ◽  
Vol 153 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Hong ◽  
K Brismar ◽  
K Hall ◽  
N L Pedersen ◽  
U de Faire
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Monozygotic Twins ◽  
Monozygotic Twin ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
Insulin Like Growth Factor ◽  
Factor I ◽  
Igf I ◽  
Igf Binding ◽  
Igf Binding Protein

Abstract It has previously been shown that the serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), and insulin are influenced by genetic effects to various degrees. From a clinical and preventive point of view, however, it is important to identify potentially modifiable non-genetic factors influencing the levels of these measures. Because monozygotic twin pairs share the same genetic background, differences in phenotypic levels within monozygotic twin pairs are believed to be due to non-genetic influences. Accordingly, the associations between intrapair differences in one phenotype and intrapair differences in another phenotype are also due to non-genetic influences. The present sample of 97 pairs of monozygotic twins from the population-based Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) provided the opportunity to assess non-genetic influences on the levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-1, and insulin. Several metabolic measures were found to account for the variation of IGF-I, IGFBP-1, and insulin after controlling for the genetic influences. IGFBP-1 and glucose were significant predictors for the levels of IGF-I. IGFBP-1 and glucose together explained about one quarter of the non-genetic variation of IGF-I. However, when IGFBP-1 was dropped from the regression model, insulin was the only independent predictor of IGF-I, and explained about 19% of the non-genetic variation for IGF-I. For IGFBP-1, insulin and IGF-I were the significant non-genetic predictors. Insulin and IGF-I explained about 28 and 8% respectively of the non-genetic variation for IGFBP-1, while for insulin, IGF-I, triglycerides, body height, glucose, and body mass index (BMI) explained approximately 20, 12, 6, 5 and 5% respectively of the non-genetic variation. Journal of Endocrinology (1997) 153, 251–257

scholarly journals Insights into Dyslexia Genetics Research from the Last Two Decades

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Florina Erbeli ◽  
Marianne Rice ◽  
Silvia Paracchini
Keyword(s):  
Language Disorder ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Twin Studies ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genetic Risks

Dyslexia, a specific reading disability, is a common (up to 10% of children) and highly heritable (~70%) neurodevelopmental disorder. Behavioral and molecular genetic approaches are aimed towards dissecting its significant genetic component. In the proposed review, we will summarize advances in twin and molecular genetic research from the past 20 years. First, we will briefly outline the clinical and educational presentation and epidemiology of dyslexia. Next, we will summarize results from twin studies, followed by molecular genetic research (e.g., genome-wide association studies (GWASs)). In particular, we will highlight converging key insights from genetic research. (1) Dyslexia is a highly polygenic neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex genetic architecture. (2) Dyslexia categories share a large proportion of genetics with continuously distributed measures of reading skills, with shared genetic risks also seen across development. (3) Dyslexia genetic risks are shared with those implicated in many other neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., developmental language disorder and dyscalculia). Finally, we will discuss the implications and future directions. As the diversity of genetic studies continues to increase through international collaborate efforts, we will highlight the challenges in advances of genetics discoveries in this field.

The Genetics of Gambling and Behavioral Addictions

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 931-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela S.S. Lobo ◽  
James L. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Pathological Gambling ◽  
Familial Aggregation ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
Behavioral Addictions ◽  
Psychiatric Genetics ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Genetic Studies

ABSTRACTBehavioral addictions are considered as the repetitive occurrence of impulsive behaviors without consideration of their potential negative consequences. These addictions represent an increasing cost to society and are an important new field of research in psychiatric genetics. There has been a growing body of evidence on the familial aggregation and genetic influences on the development of behavioral addictions and mainly on pathological gambling. The aim of this article is to critically review findings of family and molecular genetic studies on behavioral addictions, focusing on pathological gambling and commenting on other disorders where appropriate. This review provides a comprehensive approach to genetic studies on behavioral addiction and points out the necessity of expanding the genetic research in this field. Future directions for genetic studies in this field are also discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document