Reitveld et al. (2013) [which, by the way, had 203 authors!!!], found that the c
ID: 150787 • Letter: R
Question
Reitveld et al. (2013) [which, by the way, had 203 authors!!!], found that the combined effects of the three loci with highest LoD scores (of which rs9320913 is one) explained ~2% of the variance in educational attainment and cognitive function. If the LoD score is so strong, explain why these genes, although strongly associated with the traits of interest, have so little impact on phenotype.
“[James Watson] told the Sunday Times in 2007 that while people may like to think that all races are born with equal intelligence, those “who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.” (Yes, like Watson and Crick. This quote is from an Opinion piece in The Guardian in 2014. Also, I am compelled to point out that there are also no “races” in Homo sapiens, only ethnicities). In the quote, Watson is positing that some ethnicities are genetically-predetermined to be less intelligent than others. What does the work of Reitveld et al. (2013) tell us about the likelihood of a genetic basis for intellect with ethnicity-specific alleles?
How does participant selection potentially bias the interpretation of GWAS restricted the sample to Caucasians (to help reduce stratification concerns).
Explanation / Answer
Answer
Recombination rate shows the distance between the alleles in the locus rs9320913 is associated with educational achievement in the CM unit.
The low Cm valve (blue dot) shows high likelihood of association of alleles in the locus rs9320913 are associated with educational achievement.
there blue dot freudience is 0.2.
so,
0.2 = 1/5 = 20% probability