For years now humans have been
grasping at straws to demonstrate the connection between genetics and
everything little thing that makes us human, from intelligence to disease. Thus
The Human Genome Project was created. The project was completed in April of
2003 and was predicted to have a large impact on the way we look at the human
species. And I would agree, there are changes however I have not experienced
the large impact that it has had on the human race. There are still incurable
genetic diseases and there is still no way to properly identify the causes of
intelligence. For the billions of dollars invested into this project, it did
not rise up to its expectations. Genetics is overestimated due to social and
political needs and assumptions.
Cornelius A. Rietveld published
an article in Science magazine highlighting his finds on the connection between
intelligence and genetics. Rietvald used the International Standard
Classification of Education to measure the level of education obtained. He
found that 3 gene variants present in the human body each caused a 0.02 %
deviation in intelligence each. Overall these three gene variants contributed a
2% change to the overall digression in educational accomplishment.
Nevertheless, Lewontin, the
realistic pessimist, unwaveringly highlights that such experiments lead to
scientific advances on paper, but to fail to produce an operative effect in the
real world. Rietveld’s study focuses
upon a mere 2 % of factors that affect intelligence. The other 98%, (factors
not even remotely connected to genetics) were effectively looked over.
This is as misleading of a
scientific discovery as found anywhere else in the scientific community. The question that then begs to be asked is,
why? Why did a mass of scientists agree to emphasize the almost insignificant
0.02 % and completely disregard the other 98%? The simplified version, would be
that the authors being geneticists, want to emphasize the importance of their careers.
Because honestly where would their careers be if genetic differences were not
related to human advancement and well –being?
However the comprehensive answer is more substantial than petty
conflicts of interest and hence significantly more fascinating. The extensive
elucidation, stems from the fact that Science would allow such an article to be
circulated in their magazine. The conclusion of the article, is so far-fetched,
that it leads me to believe that there are other social organizations that grip
the scientific community. These organizations must be commanding enough to
coerce such a prominent scientific journal to publish a misrepresented
study. The only social organization
which would have such power over such a large institution would be the
government. The government funds projects like these to draw attention away
from the lacking educational system and any other flaws within the country and
pull the attention towards a more scientific reason, thus throwing the blame
onto something less tangible. Genetics as a whole “is meant to legitimate the
structures of inequality in our society by putting a biological gloss on them…”
(Lewontin 37) However
genetics and the research surrounding can only explain a small part of what
makes a person themselves. And hence genetics as a field of study is
overestimated. “to be genetic is not to be unchangeable.” (Lewontin 35)
Lewontin states that science in general
is molded and directed by societal and political necessities and expectations. "No
prominent molecular biologist of my acquaintance is without a financial stake
in the biotechnology business. As a result, serious conflicts of interest have
emerged in universities and in government service" (Lewontin 74)The social
needs of the geneticists in the article mimic the behavior of the researchers
on The Human Genome project, and result in the over-qualification of the entire
research project. Money has been
funneled into this project and genetic research in general, even after the
myriad of evidence against all major assumptions of said study. “The cost of
sequencing the human genome is estimated optimistically at 300 million dollars”(Lewontin
73) and yet even after the completion of this project gene variants for some of
the most common diseases have not been identified. There have been modest discoveries made by
genetic research, however the results don’t nearly pay off the amount of money and
effort that went into this research. Proof for genetic causations has
unceasingly and inflexibly denied appearance. Exceptions have been discovered,
like BRCA1 but like mentioned before, the costs outweigh the profits. “These
projects are, in fact administrative and financial organizations rather that
research projects”(Lewontin 61)
Returning to the original point,
for common mental and physical diseases and conditions no detailed explanation
has been discovered in terms of relations to genetics. In fact evidence
provided by genetic research demonstrates the idea that non-genetic factors are
the major risk factors for such diseases pushing the importance of genetics to
a minor level. For human characteristics like behavior and intelligence the
lack of positive correlation between genetics and human traits becomes even
more ostensible. Subsequently, an
exceedingly substantial scientific justification is essential to clarify why huge
quantities of taxpayer cash has financed human genetic research even through
the extensive negative results.
In conclusion the social and
political aspects of the modern world hold science captive. Just like an
organism cannot exist without the environment it creates, science cannot exist
without the social and political aspects that it governs. A large percentage of
the world’s standard failure to deal with social and environmental difficulties
stem from the overestimation on genetic experimentation and explanation. In the
end DNA does not determine the fate of the human race. It is the world that
humans have created that lead us to the comprehension of our race and our
inevitable future.
Bibliography
Lewontin, Richard C. Biology
as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA. New York, NY: HarperPerennial, 1992.
Print.
Rietveld, Cornelius A. and Sarah E. Medland.
"GWAS of 126,559 Individuals Identifies Genetic Variants Associated with
Educational Attainment." Science (2013 ).
You needed a more focused argument in your introduction. It reads like an attempt to summarize some of Lewontin's findings, but focusing on now instead of twenty years ago. You want a much narrower focus in a short essay.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this essay, you generalizes too quickly and easily, rather than focusing on the task at hand. You and I may both easily believe that the motives of the authors of this paper are much like the motivies Lewontin ascribes to researchers on intelligence in general, and you do show a reasonable understanding of Lewontin's text. But I would have liked to see mroe analysis of your chosen article.
How to do this? I can only speculate, without having read the article. Where I would likely start, though, is by asking some basic questions about credibility. When IQ tests are really problematic, how can we realistically be confident that we are measuring "intelligence" precisely enough to measure it in .02% deviations.
Lewontin would doubtless question whether "general" intelligence exists in the first place. But even if it does, can we really measure it so precisely?
I do see improvement in your use of Lewontin, but you need to focus on the basics a little more. Remember that you are making an argument, and in this case you were making an argument about an article using Lewontin - not just presenting a bunch of information from Lewontin, which is what you come dangerously close to doing.