Genes Influence Intelligence Maintenance
January 20, 2012| |
A study about intelligence done 80 years ago had its sequel and revealed the role of genes in maintaining intelligence up to old age. Many scientists have been longing to know the relationship of cognitive changes with age but most of their studies involve elderly subjects.
University of Ediburgh psychologist Ian Deary found two unpublished data sets from intelligence studies conducted in 1932 and 1947, involving 11-year old Scottish children. Deary and colleagues tracked down the original participants who are now about 65 years old. The team collected the DNA samples of nearly 2,000 participants and conducted another intelligence test. Results of the intelligence tests showed that childhood intelligence correlated well with the intelligence in old age, however, the relationship is not perfect, meaning that some of the participants have better "intelligence genes" than the others.
To know more about the influence of genetics in the intelligence patterns of the participants, they analyzed their DNA samples and found more than half a million common genetic variants. Though the sample size was very limited to get the exact genetic signatures related to cognitive stability, it was enough to estimate the immense influence of genes in cognitive ageing. Using the old and the new data sets, the experts will continue searching which genes influence age-related changes in intelligence.
The original article is at http://www.nature.com/news/life-long-intelligence-in-the-genes-1.9842.
| |
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- CGIAR Launches Two Research Programs on Global Food System
- FAO-EC Project to Promote Climate-Smart Farming
- FAO Food Price Index Ends Year with Sharp Decline
- New Seed Varieties Approved in Tanzania
- Scientists Tweak Photosynthesis for Better Biofuel
- PBL Awarded Pioneering US Patent on RNAi
- New Tool for Cleaning Up Soils and Waterways: Prickly Pear
- Joint US/Japan Project for Better Biofuels
- Weed Suppressing Wheat Put to Test in WA Trials
- Effective Stress Tolerance Through Biotech, Says Bangladesh Food Minister
- Intelligence and Emotions Influence Acceptability of GMO
- Nourishing Gene in Plants for Improvement of Seed Productivity
- Spanish Farmers Continues to Plant GM Corn in 2012
- Research Project Aims to Make the Potato Plant as Energy Fit
- Breeding Better Grasses for Food and Fuel
- French High Council of Biotechnology Confirms Threshold of 0.1% Adventitious Presence Impractical
- Plants: Heritable Disease Resistance
-
Research Highlights
- Bt Maize Line Have No Effect on Endophyte Communities
- Blast Resistance Gene Pi54 Activates Complex Defense Action in Rice
- Effect of Biotech Soybean Planted Field on Succeeding Crops
-
Beyond Crop Biotech
- Blood Parasite's Genome Decoded
- New Computational Technique for DNA sequencing
- Genes Influence Intelligence Maintenance
- Shangool and Mangool Soon to Help Hemophilia Patients
-
Announcements
- Indian Seed Congress 2012
- 16th International Symposium of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops
- Applications Sought for Borlaug International Agricultural S &T Fellowship Program 2012
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (December 4, 2024)
- Gene Editing Supplement (November 27, 2024)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet