Getting at True Heritability | Alexander Young & Richard Hanania
Alexander Young is a researcher at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Genomics Department and School of Medicine\u2019s Human Genetics Department, working with the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC). He studies the genetics of cognitive ability and educational attainment, with a particular focus on developing methods to uncover true measures of heritability for important traits.
Richard and Alexander talk about why siblings are so useful for this purpose, in the midst of a larger overview of the history of behavioral genetics and modern methods. Twin and adoption studies show much higher levels of heritability than genome wide association studies (GWAS). Why might this be the case? Different theories are discussed, along with ways to solve seeming discrepancies.
The conversation goes on to cover the societal relevance of Alexander\u2019s work, and attempts to isolate research on genes and cognitive ability within the academy.
Listen in podcast form or watch on YouTube:
Links:
* Alexander\u2019s Twitter account.
* Alexander Young, \u201cSolving the Missing Heritability Problem.\u201d
* Alexander Young and co-authors, \u201cDeconstructing the Sources of Genotype-Phenotype Associations in Humans.\u201d
* James Lee, \u201cDon\u2019t Even Go There.\u201d
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