Background

The area of behavioral genetics stems from the hypothesis that there are genes that can govern behavior. Research is flourishing in this area, with scientists searching for the genetic basis of traits such as intelligence, violence, and psychological disorders. This area of scientific study is fraught with controversy. What should one do if he has the gene for violence or aggression? Saying that having a certain gene leads to a certain pattern of behavior negates personal choice and free will; a person is no longer responsible for his actions. Or should a person be held accountable for behaviors that he could not govern?

Francis Galton began this area of science during the mid-1800's. Galton was the first one to use family, twin, and adoption studies that are used today by many behavioral geneticists. Through his work on the heritability of traits, Galton contributed to the rise of the eugenics movement. During the Nazi era behavioral genetics became taboo, as the Nazis used genetics as justification for actively eliminating groups that they did not consider well-born. Once Nazism had passed, behavioral genetics became more widely accepted, andit is now a major area of scientific study.

With the completion of the Human Genome Project, finding the links between behavior and genes is ever more likely. Geneticists now have a variety of tools that they use to study genes and gene patterns in a more effective and efficient manner. Thus comparison of genes is easier and patterns of abnormal genes easier to find. Most of the traits studied in behavioral genetics arise from the expression of many genes, not just one. The summed effects of a group of abnormal genes cause psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

This page created by Jane Chang