Obesity is 60% heritable. And this means …

Peter MolemanArticles, Genes and heredityLeave a Comment

The mass media report percentages of heritability. for various conditions. For instance autism is 90% heritable, height 80%, BMI 60%, musical aptitude 50%, depression 40%, breast cancer 30%. But these percentages are of no use to you, because they only apply to the population investigated, not in general. And they vary immensely between populations. Telling someone that their trait or illness has a specific heritability percentage is wrong.

Can you inherit homosexuality?

Peter MolemanArticles, Brain development, Genes and heredityLeave a Comment

Translated by Rumia Bose I can still remember the commotion which arose in 1990 when Dutch neuroscientist Dick Swaab published an article saying that homosexual men had an area in their hypothalamus which was twice the size of the same area in heterosexual men. Many found the idea – that homosexuality might have a biological basis – quite alarming! At … Read More