The Influence of Genetics on Contemporary Thinking

The Influence of Genetics on Contemporary Thinking PDF Author: Anne Fagot-Largeault
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402056648
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
This interdisciplinary volume reflects on the effects of recent discoveries in genetics on a broad range of scientific fields. It shows the way in which those discoveries influence genetics itself and many other fields, and explains the impact of genetics on contemporary culture. The volume contains the most recent views of the Nobel Laureate François Jacob on genetics and the nature of living things.

The Influence of Genetics on Contemporary Thinking

The Influence of Genetics on Contemporary Thinking PDF Author: Anne Fagot-Largeault
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402056648
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 259

Get Book Here

Book Description
This interdisciplinary volume reflects on the effects of recent discoveries in genetics on a broad range of scientific fields. It shows the way in which those discoveries influence genetics itself and many other fields, and explains the impact of genetics on contemporary culture. The volume contains the most recent views of the Nobel Laureate François Jacob on genetics and the nature of living things.

Blueprint, with a new afterword

Blueprint, with a new afterword PDF Author: Robert Plomin
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262537982
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
A top behavioral geneticist makes the case that DNA inherited from our parents at the moment of conception can predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses. In Blueprint, behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin describes how the DNA revolution has made DNA personal by giving us the power to predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses from birth. A century of genetic research shows that DNA differences inherited from our parents are the consistent lifelong sources of our psychological individuality—the blueprint that makes us who we are. Plomin reports that genetics explains more about the psychological differences among people than all other factors combined. Nature, not nurture, is what makes us who we are. Plomin explores the implications of these findings, drawing some provocative conclusions—among them that parenting styles don't really affect children's outcomes once genetics is taken into effect. This book offers readers a unique insider's view of the exciting synergies that came from combining genetics and psychology. The paperback edition has a new afterword by the author.

The Epigenetics Revolution

The Epigenetics Revolution PDF Author: Nessa Carey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231530714
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth. It explains why mapping an organism's genetic code is not enough to determine how it develops or acts and shows how nurture combines with nature to engineer biological diversity. Surveying the twenty-year history of the field while also highlighting its latest findings and innovations, this volume provides a readily understandable introduction to the foundations of epigenetics. Nessa Carey, a leading epigenetics researcher, connects the field's arguments to such diverse phenomena as how ants and queen bees control their colonies; why tortoiseshell cats are always female; why some plants need cold weather before they can flower; and how our bodies age and develop disease. Reaching beyond biology, epigenetics now informs work on drug addiction, the long-term effects of famine, and the physical and psychological consequences of childhood trauma. Carey concludes with a discussion of the future directions for this research and its ability to improve human health and well-being.

The Dependent Gene

The Dependent Gene PDF Author: David S. Moore
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780805072808
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This book provides an analysis of the nature vs. nuture debate, arguing for an end to the 'either/or' nature of the discussions in favor of a recognition that environmental and genetic factors interact throughout life to form human traits.

Are We Hardwired?

Are We Hardwired? PDF Author: William R. Clark
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195346408
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Books such as Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene have aroused fierce controversy by arguing for the powerful influence of genes on human behavior. But are we entirely at the mercy of our chromosomes? In Are We Hardwired?, scientists William R. Clark and Michael Grunstein say the answer is both yes--and no. The power and fascination of Are We Hardwired? lie in their explanation of that deceptively simple answer. Using eye-opening examples of genetically identical twins who, though raised in different families, have had remarkably parallel lives, the authors show that indeed roughly half of human behavior can be accounted for by DNA. But the picture is quite complicated. Clark and Grunstein take us on a tour of modern genetics and behavioral science, revealing that few elements of behavior depend upon a single gene; complexes of genes, often across chromosomes, drive most of our heredity-based actions. To illustrate this point, they examine the genetic basis, and quirks, of individual behavioral traits--including aggression, sexuality, mental function, eating disorders, alcoholism, and drug abuse. They show that genes and environment are not opposing forces; heredity shapes how we interpret our surroundings, which in turn changes the very structure of our brain. Clearly we are not simply puppets of either influence. Perhaps most interesting, the book suggests that the source of our ability to choose, to act unexpectedly, may lie in the chaos principle: the most minute differences during activation of a single neuron may lead to utterly unpredictable actions. This masterful account of the nature-nurture controversy--at once provocative and informative--answers some of our oldest questions in unexpected new ways

How Genes Influence Behavior

How Genes Influence Behavior PDF Author: Jonathan Flint
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198716877
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
How Genes Influence Behavior 2e takes a personal and lively approach to the study of behavioral genetics, providing an up-to-date and accessible introduction to a variety of approaches and their application to a wide range of disorders, and modeling a critical approach to both methods and results. This second edition includes additional biology content to help students understand the biological foundations of the field, while maintaining an appropriate focus on the main issues of relevance to psychology students; updates coverage of genomic technologies and their applications; and covers a wider range of disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders, and intellectual disability. A new final chapter guides students through a range of quantitative approaches using worked examples that relate directly to cases and examples used earlier in the text, and addresses current issues arising from debates around reproducibility. The online resources that accompany this book include: For students *Multiple choice questions for students to check their threshold knowledge *Data sets for students to manipulate, so that they can apply what they have learned For lecturers *Figures and tables from the book, ready to download

Debating Human Genetics

Debating Human Genetics PDF Author: Alexandra Plows
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134057865
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Debating Human Genetics examines contemporary public debate on emerging developments in medical genetics, including cloning, gene therapy, gene patenting, biobanks, genetic testing and screening, and pharmacogenomics.

Genetics and Philosophy

Genetics and Philosophy PDF Author: Paul Griffiths
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107354765
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
In the past century, nearly all of the biological sciences have been directly affected by discoveries and developments in genetics, a fast-evolving subject with important theoretical dimensions. In this rich and accessible book, Paul Griffiths and Karola Stotz show how the concept of the gene has evolved and diversified across the many fields that make up modern biology. By examining the molecular biology of the 'environment', they situate genetics in the developmental biology of whole organisms, and reveal how the molecular biosciences have undermined the nature/nurture distinction. Their discussion gives full weight to the revolutionary impacts of molecular biology, while rejecting 'genocentrism' and 'reductionism', and brings the topic right up to date with the philosophical implications of the most recent developments in genetics. Their book will be invaluable for those studying the philosophy of biology, genetics and other life sciences.

Genetic Explanations

Genetic Explanations PDF Author: Sheldon Krimsky
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674067762
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
No longer viewed by scientists as the cell’s fixed master molecule, DNA is a dynamic script that is ad-libbed at each stage of development. What our parents hand down to us is just the beginning. Genetic Explanations urges us to replace our faith in genetic determinism with scientific knowledge about genetic plasticity and epigenetic inheritance.

Genes and Behaviour

Genes and Behaviour PDF Author: David J. Hosken
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119313422
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Provides a broad snapshot of recent findings showing how the environment and genes influence behavior The great debate of nature versus nurture rages on — but our understanding of the genetic basis of many behaviors has expanded over the last decade, and there is now very good evidence showing that seemingly complex behaviours can have relatively simple genetic underpinnings, but also that most behaviours have very complicated genetic and environmental architecture. Studies have also clearly shown that behaviors, and other traits, are influenced not just by genes and the environment, but also by the statistical interaction between the two. This book aims to end the nature versus nurture argument by showing that behaviors are nature and nurture and the interaction between the two, and by illustrating how single genes can explain some of the variation in behaviors even when they are seemingly complex. Genes and Behaviour: Beyond Nature-Nurture puts to rest the nature versus nurture dichotomy, providing an up-to-date synopsis of where we are, how far we've come and where we are headed. It considers the effects of a dual-inheritance of genes and culture, and genes and social environment, and highlights how indirect genetic effects can affect the evolution of behavior. It also examines the effect of non-self genes on the behavior of hosts, shines a light on the nature and nurturing of animal minds and invites us to embrace all the complexity nature and nurture generates, and more. Explores exciting new findings about behavior and where we go from here Features contributions by top scholars of the subject Seeks to end the nature versus nurture debate forever Genes and Behaviour: Beyond Nature-Nurture is a unique, and eye-opening read that will appeal to Ph.D. Students, post-doctoral fellows, and researchers in evolution and behavior. Additionally, the book will also be of interest to geneticists, sociologists and philosophers.