In the Cooper-Zubek experiment on maze bright vs maze dull rats in different environments, it was found that the enriched environment highly reduced the expected number of errors of the maze dull rats while the restricted environment increased the expected number of errors of the maze bright rats (27-30).
Explain how these results correlate with G*E more than G+E. Additionally, what are the implications of these results on our society and our reaction towards delinquents or 'mess ups'? Do you believe that the science resented with this experiment and G*E will majorly effect the initiation of future prevention techniques rather than punishment techniques?
Emily Reinherz...ereinherz@aol.com
With the rats, instead of their predetermined genes and the environment together, the genes they most likely all posses are expressed in varying ways as a result on interaction with their environments. This idea is supported by the study because "the maze-bright rats raised in the restricted environment made almost exactly the same number of mistakes as the maze-dull rats in the restricted environment" (29). It was as if their genetic makeups became translucent, for their chromosomal make up suddenly had virtually no effect on the results. In the same environment, one of "impoverished" conditions, the rats acted "equally dumb" (29). In addition, the same outcome was apparent with the maze-bright rats. They too, demonstrated a lack of genetic predetermination as they all acted equally smart. What this study showed was that the same strand of DNA has the ability to produce incredibly different results. Therefore, the GXE theory of interaction vs. summation demands a new look at genes and how they affect biological organisms.
ReplyDeleteThe implications of these results on our society in the short term will most likely not be immediate by any means. However, in the long run, with more and more research being done, I predict this will in fact alter how we treat juvenile delinquents. Citizens under the age of 18 who commit crimes are probably not raised in a intellectually and emotionally stimulating environment. Perhaps more poor behavior could be prevented through positive reinforcement therapy and providing more opportunities for these children. With regard to adults whom commit crimes, I do not think you can really simply change their environment to alter their gene expression and likelihood of repeating poor behavior. Altering future prevention techniques would most likely only encourage more crime and poor behavior.
Jane Rose (5-6A)
The rats display GxE because even though their genes should have caused them to become very good at traversing mazes, their environment lowered their ability to solve problems. The rats only displayed a small portion of what they could have achieved if they had been brought up in a good environment. A better environment also made maze dull rats smarter, showing that the environment can help or hinder you, instead of just changing small aspects of yourself. I agree with Jane in that a mix of genes and environment can cause substantial differences in an organism's development.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Shenk also talked about parents talking to babies. The results showed that there was a direct correlation between the amount of words a baby heard and the development and intelligence of the baby. This is similar to the maze rats because they were directly influenced by the type of environment they were in. This relationship can also explain why many children born in poverty continue that cycle. Since they are brought up in a place that does not foster their learning or encourage education, they are not positively influenced by their surroundings or their culture, which leads to them having low intelligence. This would cause them to stay their poor areas because they cannot get a good job, and their children will follow the same path. Only when the parents, or a parental figure, do an exceptionally good job of encouraging and teaching their children, can their children escape from their poverty. This shows that many times, children do not set out to be bad people, but their environment causes them to not value education and learning, which leads them to become delinquent.
In the future, there should be more emphasis on prevention rather than punishment. By improving the education system and providing classes and other activities for students, students will be able to grow up in a more beneficial environment and have a higher chance of succeeding. Right now, on the other hand, people just seem to accept that poor people always cause crime. This is a problem because there is a lack of effort in trying to solve the problem, and instead we are punishing people for doing things that their environment had trained them to do.
I experiment is referred to as a "classic example of gene-environment interaction" by a Penn State developmental geneticist for a good reason. The results showed that Under an extreme circumstance that either enriched or restricted the rat development, extremely similar results would occur. Under regular conditions however,there was a noticeable difference in the number of errors made by each mouse group. This demonstrated that though the scientists had believe that the "Maze-Bright"
ReplyDeletegroup had superior genes for solving mazes; they were, in fact, drastically affected by the environments in which they grew up. So much so that their gene differences no longer mattered. However, it should also be noted that the genes seemed to have some impact as the "Under normal conditions, the maze-bright rats consistently outperformed the maze-dull rats."(29)
It could be assumed that similar results would occur in humans. Regardless of who the child's parents are- be they homeless, or doctors- would have extremely similar IQ's had they been raised in similar extreme environments of either great access to information or highly restricted access. Though I can't say this with certainty, I would suspect that this would be the likely outcome.
I concur with Jane's belief that juvenile criminals are likely not raised in intellectually stimulating environments. I also believe that any GxE findings will likely not alter any of the current laws on punishing delinquents. If you break the law, regardless of how you were raised, you must be punished as befitting your crime. Almost all delinquents that commit a crime recognize the fact that their actions are breaking the law. As such, they must take responsibility for their actions. Additionally at this late stage in their life, there is likely nothing we can do that will change their outlooks on life. Therefore, if anything should come of the GxE discovery, we should create a way to intervene in these people's lives at an early age.
Vlad Miskevich (vladmiskevich@yahoo.com)