Your genes affect your university but it's not a surprise

An extensive study of twins has revealed links between genes and academics, but all behavioral traits in individuals result from a complex interplay of interactions between nature and education.

Albuquerque Journal / ZUMA Wire / Alamy Live News

By Clare Wilson

I've heard that there is a gene that gets you into Oxford. Can this be true?

Barely. An extensive study of 3000 pairs of British twins revealed that just like intelligence, your chances of getting into a good university are in part heritable. If your twin enters the University of Oxford, for example, you will be more likely to join them if they are your identical twin, with whom you share all your DNA, than they do. are only your fraternal twin, where you share half. This suggests that 57% of the "quality" of your university is due to your genes, says Ziada Ayorech of King's College London and colleagues in a study published today (Scientific reports, DOI: 10.1038 / s41598-018-32621-w).

What does "academic quality" mean?

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The team used existing university rankings as a measure of quality, although skeptics may argue that this does not take into account the possibility of different institutions agreeing to different people for reasons other than their academic standing – or even many smart people choose not to choose. go to the university at all.

So, could a genetic test tell you which university your child could go to?

Hopefully not. The same team also examined the DNA of 3,000 different people and was able to identify only 5% of the genes that appeared to be related to the universities. Thanks to this "missing heritability", we are still far from making genetic predictions about university acceptance or other complex behavioral characteristics.

Do we know how much of a person's intelligence is determined by their genes?

Previous research had suggested that between 50% and 80% of individuals' IQ variation was hereditary. The intelligence influencing the results in the school exams and on the influence of the university where you go, so it's not surprising that genes can also be linked to the destination of the university. The team, however, tried to remove the effects of the intelligence of the analysis by removing the impact of exam results on entry to university using statistical techniques. In doing so, they discovered that genes were still responsible for 47% of the variation in the quality of universities, which suggests that they affect the destination of the universities of another university. the way that shapes your intelligence.

So, is the case closed?

Not necessarily. The genes of intelligence can influence your university by other mechanisms than the results of the examinations, for example by changing the degree to which the application form you are writing is impressive and if you are successful at the time of writing. ;a meeting.

Is the concept of IQ not falling into disrepute?

Not really. Certainly, there is a shameful history of people using IQ tests to justify racist and sexist attitudes without taking into account societal inequalities. But that does not mean that the tests themselves are imperfect. Numerous studies have shown that people with high IQ on average get better at school, get better jobs and earn more money in life. Anyway, it's something interesting, says Stuart Ritchie, also from Kings College London, who did not participate in the research.

So, our destiny is determined at birth after all?

Not at all. If half of the variation in intelligence – or academic destination – is attributed to our genes, the rest must be to our environment. This could include the encouragement that children receive from their family and friends, if their parents have gone to university, the wealth of the family and the quality of education provided at their school. Governments can help level the playing field, for example by funding early childhood education, so that children from the poorest households do not start school afterwards.

So, intelligence, like all complex behavioral traits, comes from an interaction of genetic and social factors?

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