tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post1983514019587577185..comments2024-01-04T04:11:55.717+02:00Comments on Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog: In search of the Hidden HeritabilityDienekeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02082684850093948970noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-576241537933637272008-11-07T09:23:00.000+02:002008-11-07T09:23:00.000+02:00Add number 6: Look at plants. Plants have some cur...Add number 6: Look at plants. Plants have some curious mechanisms like (1) the capacity to repair certain deleterious mutations -present in both parents -and (2) reverting to DNA of two or three generations before. Both indicate that some genetic backup information is stored somewhere, possibly in cytoplasmic RNA.ergosumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05317552459420458007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-47204164931408604332008-11-06T23:25:00.000+02:002008-11-06T23:25:00.000+02:00"5. Don't trust diagnoses of conditions"--I think ..."5. Don't trust diagnoses of conditions"<BR/><BR/>--I think "5" is a big one, particularly when it comes to things like ADHD, schizophrenia and autism. There is a tendency to lump etiologically distinct disorders under the same umbrella of diagnosis.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Variable etiology is also a likely confound of studies looking for height genes. You can be tall because you produce more growth hormone than average (the theory of Polynesians as hypertrophied Asians), or you can be tall because the growth plates in your long bones are more sensitive to growth hormone than average, or because you simply grow for a longer period of time than average, or because you are simply healthier and better fed than average. So a study looking for height genes would have its work cut out for it, sifting through all these associations. I have no doubt that genes for height exist, (one needs only to look at the families around them to see evidence for the heritability of body size) but finding those genes will be hard.Kosmohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05156165962330239126noreply@blogger.com