Genes, Environment and Human Development: a Cross-Cultural Analysis

On May 17  Svetlana Borinskaya  presented her report during the regular seminar of LCSR.

On May 17 Svetlana Borinskaya presented her report "Genes, Environment and Human Development: a Cross-Cultural Analysis" during the regular seminar of LCSR. Svetlana is a senior researcher at the Institute of Vavilov’s General Genetics (Academy of Sciences of Russia), andhas PhD in biology and member of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research. Svetlana has been involved in cross-cultural studies for many years and is a member of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research.The main purpose of this presentation was to show how to use the genetic characteristics of different communities in sociological research.

The presentation started with the basics of biology and genetics, so the audience could recall and understand better how genes work. DNA exists in every cell of every living organism, and it which contains all the genetic information. If one imagines DNA as a text, it would consist of over 3 billion letters. During the transmission of hereditary information from parents to children about 200 mutations happen. These mutations appear in the interaction with the environment.

Every person is different, the same genes may reveal in different ways for different people. A lot depends on the environment, it matters a lot where one’s childhood took place and where one lives now. The vivid example of this statement is the study of men characterized by aggressive behavior. The genetic analysis of the whole family was held in Nethedlans, as one women decided to check whether agressiveness of her male relatives has mutation origin. As it turned out, the gene responsible for the aggressive behavior reveals itself more intensively among those who grew up in problem environment.  Furthermore, some genes may be flexible, i.e. be influenced by the environment, while other genes almost can not be changed (for example, eye color).

The second part of the lecture was devoted to the genetic characteristics of different communities. It is a common knowledge that human species appeared about 150,000 years ago in Africa. Initially, the population was only 5,000 individuals. Over time the number of people in that tribe gradually increased, which led to the global dispersal of the population on Earth. As a result of this process, the cultural and genetic adaptation was becoming more intense and diverse. Thus, we can conclude that in different natural conditions different kinds of mutations can be recognized as beneficial (for example, skin color). The researcher cites the example of Bergman’s rule, which stated that similar forms of homoiothermal animals, the largest are those who live in cold climate (at high latitudes or in the mountains). In certain circumstances this rule can be applied to human species.

Svetlana Borinskaya cites as an example the study of interdependence of the management type and color blindness. She states that there are more color blinded individuals among farmers while among the northern nations they are practically absent. Another example is the spread of dairy farming and milk consumption. It is known that humans could digest milk only in childhood in the past days. The researcher claims that this situation changing due to the spread of dairy farming (many people in adulthood can digest milk now). The examples described above are not the only ones that were mentioned in Svetlana’s report.

This report raised many questions and most of them can be reduced to one: how to conduct these genetic -cultural studies of different communities in a such way that it would not lead to stigmatization and, in distant future, to genocide of certain ethnic groups according to their genetic profiles. Svetlana said that researchers should be careful in interpreting the results of their research, constantly emphasizing that all the people are equal. Thus, it is necessary to explain adequately these results to the public, using the "right" media channels.

 By Irina Brun