The genomic case against genetic determinism

by Gene E. Robinson, Rina Bliss, Matthew E. Hudson

Animal studies reveal that the molecular wiring of the brain can be altered by heredity, the environment, and their interaction. A deeper molecular understanding of these interactions could be a potent antidote to societal concerns of genetic determinism for human behavior, but this requires a paradigm that extends beyond traditional genome-wide association study (GWAS). This Perspective suggests that a deeper understanding of genotype by environment interactions at the molecular level could be a potent antidote to societal concerns of genetic determinism. Developing this idea for human social and behavioral genomics will require a paradigm that extends beyond traditional GWAS.