Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [genetics]

The science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms.

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Is 8% of human DNA from viruses?

According to 23andme's Twitter Image reads, Approximately 8% of DNA is originally from viruses, which infected your ancestors and became integrated into their cells.
Evan Carroll
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Are girls and boys pre-programmed to behave... like girls and boys?

My dad claims that even as toddlers, my sister and I knew which toys to play with. For example, I would always pick up toy guns, Action Man, and other similar toys. She would always pick up Barbie. He also claims that this happened while we were…
Thomas O
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Is there any harm in forcing/re-educating a left-handed child to use their right hand?

Backstory: Many of my relatives were subjected by their parents to a "training process" to "prevent" left-hand-dominance. This method started at a very young age and basically consisted of politely instructing the child to switch hands whenever…
ESultanik
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Do humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas?

It's widely claimed that we share 50% of our DNA with bananas. Does this have actual basis or is it a myth? Example claims The Mirror (UK), NHGRI
mintsponge
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Is Genetically Modified food safe to consume?

What's the truth surrounding the popular idea that genetically modified food is dangerous to consume? There's entire websites and institutions dedicated to popularizing the alleged dangers of eating genetically modified food, such as GMO Awareness,…
Django Reinhardt
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What risks exist with GMO, but not with selective breeding?

Anytime you hear Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) come up, someone always pipes in that it's perfectly safe because we've been doing it for thousands of years through selective breeding. Intuitively this sounds a lot like saying we've had solar…
Russell Steen
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Is IQ hereditary? If so, to what degree?

The movie Idiocracy suggests that intelligence is hereditary; this idea has also been perpetrated by German author Thilo Sarrazin, who claims that due to the higher fertility of Islamic immigrants and their allegedly lower intellect, Germany was…
Lagerbaer
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Did a 'Black History Month website' call white people ‘genetically defective descendants of albino mutants’?

Telegraph.co.uk reports that 'A Black History Month website' has made claims such as : [white people are the] genetically defective descendants of albino mutants [white man can] “fantasise that he is genetically equal to the black…
pinegulf
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Has increased computer use led to increased myopia?

According to ABC News and this Ophthalmological study there has been a significant increase in the number of people with myopic eyesight over a recent 30 year period. From the ABC article: There are multiple theories. Some say more people are now…
DuckMaestro
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Are Ashkenazi Jews smarter?

I just received an email entitled "Why are Jews So Smart". You can read an article here. I also found a similar article in New York Magazine. Did Jewish intelligence evolve in tandem with Jewish diseases as a result of discrimination in the ghettos…
smUsamaShah
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Do the mother's genes almost exclusively determine the sons' intelligence?

According to this paper: Intelligence and the X chromosome by Gillian Turner, published by The Lancet (a highly regarded medical journal) in 1996, the X chromosome is dominantly responsible for coding "intelligence" and "intellectual function".…
user69715
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Are Ashkenazi Jews largely descended from Khazars?

There is an obvious ethnic subdivision within Jews, between the Sephardic and the Ashkenazi. In several vaguely antisemitic websites (see for instance, here, here, and here ), but also in a completely un-anti-Semitic book The Thirteenth Tribe: The…
Ron Maimon
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Did drinking milk cause an evolutionary change in the human genome?

In a recent Slate article "The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History. How did milk help found Western civilization?" (October 23, 2012), a claim was made that: [Around 10,000 B.C.] a genetic mutation appeared, somewhere near modern-day…
Carlo Alterego
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Is reviving an extinct species possible?

With all the science of genetics, and genetic engineering, would reviving an extinct species possible? Yes, akin the story of "Jurassic Park". Would it be possible now, with the science we have today?
CMR
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Are Adolf Hitler's DNA samples available?

A recent report published by LePoint claims that a Frenchman named Jean-Marie Loret is Hitler's son. The evidence in favor of this claim cited by the Huffington Post includes: Hitler and Loret have the same blood group. Another study showed that…
samthebrand
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