PSYB30H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Designer Baby, Behavioural Genetics, Sensation Seeking
The Human Genome
● Genome - the complete set of genes an organism processes
○ Contains between 20,000 and 25,000 genes
● The Human Genome
○ Sequencing the human genome; identifying the particular sequence of DNA
molecules in the human species
○ The manner in which human genes get decoded into proteins turns out to be far
more variable than in other species
○ These protein coding genes, making up roughly 2% of the human genome, are
only part of the story
■ Genetic Junk - the other 98% of the DNA in human chromosomes, these
parts were identified by scientists to be functionless residues that served
no purposes
● Have impact on humans, potentially affecting everything from a
person’s physical size to personality
Controversy About Genes and Personality
● Designer babies
● Findings from behavioural genetics will be used (or misused) to support particular
political agendas
● Eugenics - notion that we can design the future of the human species by fostering the
reproduction of persons with certain traits and by discouraging the reproduction of
persons without those traits
Goals of Behavioural Genetics
● Central goals of genetic research is to determine the percentage of an individual
difference that can be attributed to genetic differences and the percentage due to
environmental differences
● Roughly 90% of the individual differences in height are due to genetic differences
● Percentage of Variance - individuals vary, or are different from each other, and this
variability can be partitioned into percentages that are due to different causes
● Interested in determining the ways in which genes and the environment interact and
correlate with each other
What Is Heritability
● Heritability - a statistic that refers to the proportion of observed variance in a group of
individuals that can be accounted for by genetic variance
○ The proportion of phenotypic variance that is attributable to genotypic variance
○ Describes the degree to which genetic differences among individuals cause
differences in an observed property, such as height, extraversion, or sensation
seeking
○ Provides useful information in identifying the genetic and environmental
determinants of personality
Document Summary
Genome - the complete set of genes an organism processes. Sequencing the human genome; identifying the particular sequence of dna molecules in the human species. The manner in which human genes get decoded into proteins turns out to be far more variable than in other species. These protein coding genes, making up roughly 2% of the human genome, are only part of the story. Genetic junk - the other 98% of the dna in human chromosomes, these parts were identified by scientists to be functionless residues that served no purposes. Have impact on humans, potentially affecting everything from a person"s physical size to personality. Findings from behavioural genetics will be used (or misused) to support particular political agendas. Eugenics - notion that we can design the future of the human species by fostering the reproduction of persons with certain traits and by discouraging the reproduction of persons without those traits.
