Biology, psychology and political science are rarely spoken of together. But according to a new study co-authored by Rose McDermott, professor of political science, the genetics of fear can exert a powerful influence on people’s political opinions, particularly those regarding out-groups. Published online last month in the American Journal of Political Science, her paper explores the correlation between hereditary and…
In 1855, in the garden of his country estate, Charles Darwin built a dovecote. He filled it with birds he bought in London from pigeon breeders. He favored the fanciest breeds — pouters, carriers, barbs, fantails, short-faced tumblers and many more. Pigeon breeding, Darwin argued, was an analogy for what happened in the wild. Yet to later generations of biologists,…
How old is too old? The 20th century added thirty years to life expectancy in the developed world, but are more candles on the birthday cake all we want? Some scientists think the body has a metabolic stop-sign at about age 122; others think that through new technologies, genetics, and robotics we can expand our longevity beyond 150 years. And…
The investigation of the genetics of behavior is a huge scientific enterprise, with great progress being made in a variety of species — roundworms, fruit flies, lab mice, sticklebacks. Dr. Hoekstra’s work is unusual in that it deals with a naturally occurring, complicated behavior in mammals that is important for survival. And it is significant that she has been able…
ISG faculty Patrick Allard has been engaged in outreach activities with several organizations including the Society of toxicology and Seeding Labs. Recently he combined these two interests to become SOT’s Global Toxicology Scholar of 2011/12. As part of this program, Allard did a two week tour of three universities in three countries of Eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. For more information…
Humans engage in a lot of complex behaviors, but many of them are learned. Genetics gives us a nervous system that’s flexible enough to incorporate new behaviors, and we pick them up socially. But many animals display highly complex behavior that appears to be instinctual. Which raises the question of how these sorts of behaviors can be programmed into the…