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Studies That Linked Specific Genes to Intelligence Were Largely Wrong

(photo credit: pharmaceutical brain, Bryan Christie)

For decades, scientists have understood that there is a genetic component to intelligence, but a new Harvard study has found both that most of the genes thought to be linked to the trait are probably not in fact related to it, and identifying intelligence’s specific genetic roots may still be a long way off.

Led by David I. Laibson ‘88, the Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics, and Christopher F. Chabris ‘88, Ph.D. ‘99, assistant professor of psychology at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., a team of researchers examined a dozen genes using large data sets that included both intelligence testing and genetic data. As reported in a forthcoming article in the journalPsychological Science, they found that in nearly every case, the hypothesized genetic pathway failed to replicate. In other words, intelligence could not be linked to the specific genes that were tested.