Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

genetics

Science Corner: A Flock of Sea Scrolls

Photo of a dense herd of sheep
Sheep are more photogenic than parchment fragments or caves. (Photo by PublicDomainPictures)

Before they were one of the most famous archaeological discoveries (and narratives), the Dead Sea Scrolls were so many unsuspecting sheep, goats, and cows. Sure, there are some important steps in between, but for today’s purposes, the animals are key. Since the parchments are made of animal hide, they have DNA. And DNA can survive for the ~2,000 years since the scrolls were written, allowing researchers to extract DNA from tiny samples or crumbs to learn about the animals who gave their hide for the parchment. You can read a news summary here, or the full paper here.
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Science Corner: The Skinny on Genes

photo of paired columns with banding patterns reminiscent of chromosomes
I assume that this is some kind of art installation and the resemblance to chromosomes is intentional; whatever it is, I thought it was cool. (Photo by bitmask )

Biology is not fully reducible to genetics, and behavior is not fully reducible to biology. I’ve found myself using that adage more often in conversation, so I thought perhaps it would be helpful to mention and unpack here. As far as I know, that particular phrasing is mine, but the sentiment I believe is fairly representative of what biologists think. While there may be a popular expectation finding genes for every personality trait, the reality is that genes can only have so much influence. That should be apparent even from the raw numbers. We have roughly 25,000 genes and 100 trillion neural connections; so few genes cannot possibly fully specify how our brains are wired, especially considering everything else those genes also have to do. Even when genes get a label like the “warrior gene” the most we can about it is that it is associated with a higher tendency toward certain behaviors, rather than being fully deterministic.
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Science Corner: I-9, Two Forms of Identification, and Your Genome

Photo of a hand composited to show it holding a twisted ladder DNA schematic.
“I’ll just make a copy of this for our records and then you can have it back.” (Photo by geralt)

“Of course he became a supervillain; his name was Victor von Doom.” Such sentiments are common about (and among) fictional characters; naturally Remus Lupin is the one who got bit by a werewolf, not James Potter, and of all people only Otto Octavius would wind up with four extra limbs. In real life, our future choices and the events that transpire around us aren’t so easily foretold–but that doesn’t always stop us from trying. We believe we could use our time and money so much more efficiently if we only knew from day one which people will be loyal friends, productive employees, or healthy patients. And so we search for the factors and metrics that might give us, if not a complete view of the future, at least a glimpse.
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Science Corner: Designer Genes

Photo of mosquito
Don’t worry; no one is trying to make human/mosquito hybrids. (Yet.) (Image: James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Public domain])

It’s been a busy week in the world of applied biology. Genetically modified mosquitoes were released in the Cayman Islands in an effort to disrupt Zika virus transmission; Florida is considering a similar intervention now that infections have occurred there. While the FDA approved the use of such mosquitoes, Congress has prevented it from even considering any procedures that intentionally modify human embryos in an inheritable way. Meanwhile, the NIH is preparing to fund research involving human-animal hybrids (think pigs with organs suitable for human transplant, not centaurs or werewolves). And that’s not to mention the ongoing conversation about the use of genetically modified organisms for food which factors into the political landscape this election season.
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Science Corner: SAT, GRE… DNA?

dna photo
Will this be part of your college portfolio?
Photo by micahb37

I imagine this study of the genetic contribution to academic achievement will be of interest to many in higher education. As I see it, there are actually two related but distinct takeaways from this research. The first is that academic achievement (as measured by a standardized university entrance test; insert all the necessary caveats) is based on factors like “motivation, personality, [and] confidence” independent of intelligence/IQ. While hardly a surprising result, it’s a point that warrants reinforcement. As the story notes, for a long time IQ was the only metric investigated for this kind of study, which tended to shape thinking and conversations about education.

Second is that these traits can be attributed in large part to genetics. Remember, these are observational findings. It’s not that certain genes guarantee certain test scores no matter what; the results are only relevant within the context of the given academic environment. So we might image grouping students by age (as we do now), and also consider clustering by genetic traits. Not in a remedial fashion, but in acknowledgement that students with different combinations of traits like motivation or confidence might benefit from different learning strategies — just like personalized medicine hopes to use genetics to better match patients to therapies. Will we one day send our genome along with our transcripts and SAT scores when applying to college, in order to get a better fit between school and student? How do you think findings like these should be used?