Science Friday Kids' Connection^tm -- in association with Kidsnet
It Runs in the Family: Genes and Behavior (May 2, 2003, One)

Program Summary | Guests | Related Links and Resources | For Discussion | Activities | Hear the program | About Kids Connection | SFKC Home

Program Summary

You got your red hair from your mother, your big feet from your father. But where did you get your chatty personality and love of books? Did your parents teach you or were you born that way? It’s clear that physical characteristics are hereditary, but what about behavior? How much of it is in our genes and how much is the result of the way we were raised?

Ira’s guests today discuss new issues in the “nature versus nurture” debate. Now that the human genome has been mapped, researchers are investigating the possibility that specific genes are responsible for specific behaviors, such as alcoholism, violence, or musical ability, which may be passed from generation to generation. It could explain why alcoholism seems to run in families and why one sibling becomes a criminal while the other doesn’t, even though they were brought up exactly the same way (nature). On the other hand, you might be musically gifted, but you aren’t going to become a concert pianist without instruction and encouragement (nurture).

Studies of identical twins have revealed fascinating information. Beyond looking alike, more often than not they have the same behaviors and interests, even when separated by great distances and living very different lives. Even more compelling may be studies of individual adopted children. One caller, adopted at the age of two months, states that she felt “alien” in her adoptive family because her interests and personality were so different from the others. At age 28 she located her birth mother and was stunned to find a woman very much like herself. Cases like this are not definitive, but they certainly give weight to the idea that there’s a lot more of us in our genes than just looks.

Guests

Nancy Press, associate professor in the department of public health and preventive medicine at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon

Matt McGue, professor of psychology at University of Minnesota and past president of the Behavior Genetics Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Matt Ridley, author, Newcastle, England

Book Discussed

Ridley, Matt. "Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What Makes Us Human," HarperCollins, 2003

Related Links and Resources

American Society of Human Genetics Statement, 1997: Recent Developments in Human Behavioral Genetics
DNA Files:DNA and Behavior: The Topic In-Depth
“Judicature,” November–December 1999: “Impact of Behavioral Genetics on the Law and the Courts”
Science Magazine: “Genomics and Behavior: Towards Behavior Genomics”
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science: Human Genome Project: Genes and Behavior

For Discussion:

• What is the “nature versus nurture” theory?
• What behaviors do you think are inherited? What behaviors are learned?
• If you like football, but your sister doesn’t (or vice versa), do you think it’s a genetic interest or a learned one?
• Some people think that blaming behavior on a gene gives criminals and addicts an excuse for their actions. What do you think? Do you think a “defective gene” should be used as a defense strategy in a criminal trial?
• Are you a twin or do you know twins? What is the same or different about you (them)?

Activities

Gender gaps. The DNA Files: DNA and Behavior outlines various research projects that have examined genetic bases for behavior. On the Producer's Journal page, the episode’s producer muses on how genetics meant little to her until she observed her own little girl and boy display classic girl and boy behavior—she loves dolls; he loves trucks. Compile a list with the students of behaviors that they consider to be gender-related, then survey the class to see how accurate their perceptions are.

Seeing double. Twins! and Genetics, lesson plans from DiscoverySchool.com, provide good discussion questions and research topics regarding genetics, behavior, and why twins are ideal subjects for the study of inherited behavior. Debate topics on “nature versus nurture” abound.

Order in the court. Genes On Trial: Genetics, Behavior, and the Law, an episode of PBS’ “Our Genes, Our Choices,” explores issues in law and ethics that have arisen as a result of advances in genetics. Johnnie Cochran, O.J. Simpson’s lawyer, role-plays an attorney who uses “he couldn’t help himself” as a defense in the murder trial of an alcoholic. The Viewer's Guide leads the audience through the topic with discussion questions and scenarios. The sight is really for adults, but students can reenact the alcoholic’s trial. Video clips are available on-line, and the show’s transcripts can be downloaded in PDF. Another site with a more kid-friendly discussion of ethical and legal implications of genetics is The Human Genome Project: Exploring Our Molecular Selves. Its video clips and case studies help bring the issues to life.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

Hear the Program

Listen to this program in RealAudio!

RealAudio archive courtesy of NPR Online. If nothing happens when you click the link, you may need to download a free player.