A young man dies from a heart disease, and it’s later
discovered he was underfed while in the womb of his mother. But how
does this relate to his heart disease?
It’s another question of nature versus nurture, the debate
that has sparked the interest of philosophers and scientists for
centuries.
Matt Ridley, author of the book, “Nature via
Nurture,” argues that it is neither. Instead, it is nature
operating through nurture because genes are in constant discussion
with their environment.
“At last we are able to look inside genes,” Ridley
said. “I think it’s the most important moment in our
four-billion-year history of our life on the planet.”
In the case of the young man, his body was born expecting to
live without food so he was prepared to hoard calories and avoid
excessive exercise. Instead, he was born into an affluent society
where food was plenty. His reaction? He ate a lot which put a
strain on his heart.
In a presentation at the James West Alumni Center on Monday,
Ridley spoke about the genetic impact on weight, extroversion, IQ
and a variety of other topics. It is found that the more equalized
the opportunity, the more apparent the genetic differences. The
presentation was presented by the UCLA Center for Society, the
Individual and Genetics.
In the study of weight, identical twins raised in the same
family have a correlation of 80 percent and fraternal twins raised
together are only 43 percent similar. This suggests genes matter
more than shared eating habits.
The same holds true for adopted children. Identical twins raised
in different families were still 72 percent similar in weight. The
correlation between adoptees and their adoptive parents is 4
percent similar while unrelated siblings in the same family is a
mere 1 percent.
Ridley, however, does not say this apparent destiny means a
person is unable to change. Instead, Ridley said people can seek
counseling to counter what they believe is in the gene.
Genetic counselors were at the event, believing Ridley’s
work would help them in their efforts to help patients.
“I counsel them in their family history, prenatal
diagnoses and any risk for genetic abnormalities,” said Julia
Delgado, a genetic counselor at the UCLA Medical Center. Delgado
decided to come to the event because it dealt directly with her
profession.
Most of the people in attendance were students or professionals
in the field of genetics and agreed with Ridley.
“I think it’s pretty much understood that it’s
the interaction between genes and the environment that affects the
way you develop,” said Erik Harboe, a gene therapy Ph.D.
student.
Many attendees read Ridley’s previous books and liked his
writing style.
“Even people without a genetics background could
understand this stuff,” said cytogeneticist Jennifer
Pelky.
She enjoyed the book because it brought together research on a
variety of topic including homosexuality and heart diseases, along
with the idea that you are the product of your genes.
Pelky feels it is important for people in the field of genetics
to be aware of the misconceptions the public has concerning what is
heredity and what isn’t.
Ridley is the author of the international best-seller,
“Genome,” as well as “The Origins of
Virtue,” and “The Red Queen.” His books have been
translated into 23 languages.