Just an article (ref) about human genetics that I quickly read whilst having my dinner... charming I know. But I was at the lab for 12+ hours straight today (warm fuzzies).

Firstly, the authors are not advocating for genetic determinism, but rather highlighting the importance of genetics in shaping personality, abilities and outlook on life. I agree that "you" are the result of nature and nurture (not a "blank slate" nor a "written destiny"), blah blah blah. But actually, on a day-to-day basis, I don't even really care because I try to fulfill my potential and enjoy life as much as I can anyway. Further, I agree with Steven Pinker when he says,

"Probabilities are perfectly reasonable as summaries of tendencies of multiple events or individuals in a large sample, but they are puzzling, perhaps even meaningless, when applied to a single event or individual."

So with that in mind, I go on to note a few interesting points (I don't have time tonight to summarise the article, sorry! and actually, the rest of it was pretty snoring):

• J. Craig Venter Science Foundation has a USD$10 million prize for the first person to bring the cost of gene sequencing one individual to USD$1000.
• 1 in 8,500 people have situs inversus (organs flipped on vertical axis, e.g. heart is slightly to the right, not the left)
• www.livingto100.com will calculate your life expectancy for you.
  
• FYI I got 93 years old, which goes against my recurring "I'll die young, I know it" theme
• taster-test: put blue food colouring on your tongue to reveal taste buds, stick circular hole-punch-hole enforcer (thingy) on tongue and count how many buds are within that hole... >20 = super-taster, 10 = average, <5>
• 2D:4D ratio (ratio of lengths of right second to fourth fingers) is an indication of how much oestrogen:testosterone you were exposed to in utero (knew that already, but let's revisit coz it's fun). Basically, women ==> 1.0, men ==> 0.96. [note: ==> means "tends to be" and comparisons below are made between groups of the same sex]
  
• High 2D:4D Men ==> more susceptible to heart disease, neurotic. Interestingly, gay men tend to have high 2D:4D.
• High 2D:4D Women ==> more fertile, neurotic, susceptible to breast and cervical cancer.
• Low 2D:4D Men ==> more assertive, better at mathematical tasks (e.g. rotation), have more sexual partners & more children, higher aerobic efficiency
  
• haha, better for having more sexual partners and children....
• Low 2D:4D Women ==> more assertive, better at mathematical tasks (e.g. rotation), have higher aerobic efficiency. Interestingly, lesbians tend to have low 2D:4D.
• Guess where I am??? My 2D:4D = 0.94!!! I'm a man! Tiff was right all along! Haha, it's ok - I'm pretty convinced I span both "male" and 'female" attributes pretty well, as DP and I discussed frequently.
  
• "As many as 16 million men living in a broad swathe across Asia share the same Y chromosome." (due to Genghis Khan)
• So I'm also possibly related to Genghis Khan... although I'd heard this rumour before...
• "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future." - Niels Bohr
• Reminds me of CLIMATE CHANGE!!!

Well, over and out.

Reference : Jones, D. All About Me. New Scientist 2006 (August):28-36.
Image Source : www.flickr.com
Technorati Tags : Article, Cherrieland, Genetics, New Scientist, Niels Bohr, Science, Steven Pinker

From cherrieland.blogspot.com