Alper J S, Beckwith J
Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts-Boston 02125, USA.
Yale J Biol Med. 1993 Nov-Dec;66(6):511-24.
Recent advances in molecular genetics methods have provided new means of determining the genetic bases of human behavioral traits. The impetus for the use of these approaches for specific behaviors depends, in large part, on previous familial studies on inheritance of such traits. In the past, a finding of a genetic basis for a trait was often accompanied with the idea that that trait is unchangeable. We discuss the definition of "genetic trait" and heritability and examine the relationship between these concepts and the malleability of traits for both molecular and nonmolecular approaches to behavioral genetics. We argue that the malleability of traits is as much a social and political question as it is a biological one and that whether or not a trait is genetic has little relevance to questions concerning determinism, free will, and individual responsibility for actions. We conclude by noting that "scientific objectivity" should not be used to conceal the social perspectives that underlie proposals regarding social change.
分子遗传学方法的最新进展为确定人类行为特征的遗传基础提供了新手段。将这些方法用于特定行为的动力在很大程度上取决于以往关于此类特征遗传的家族研究。过去，发现某一特征的遗传基础时，人们常常认为该特征是不可改变的。我们讨论了“遗传特征”和遗传力的定义，并从行为遗传学的分子和非分子方法两方面研究了这些概念与特征可塑性之间的关系。我们认为，特征的可塑性既是一个社会和政治问题，也是一个生物学问题，而且一个特征是否为遗传特征与关于决定论、自由意志和个人行为责任的问题几乎没有关联。我们最后指出，“科学客观性 ”不应被用来掩盖有关社会变革提议背后的社会观点。
