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Why Genes and Environment are important

There is no different dimension of behavior which is not environmentally and genetically influenced. Why genes and environment are important is a question which needs to be answered. Genes and environment interact in complex ways with each other. They also interact among themselves to produce a final result. The environmental influences are multi-factorial. They affect each other, in human behavior, the genes are also multiple. There are no features which are not influenced in by our genetic makeup. Also there are no features of human behavior which are not influenced by our environment in some way or the other.

Most people do not realize that there is a degree of genetic heritability to homosexuality. Today, it is being put forth to the public by activists. This is happening because there is no evidence which suggests that there are genes which code for homosexuality.

Gene traits

No genes exist which can code for becoming a basketball player. However, some gene code for height and some elements of athleticism like appropriate bone structure, height-to-weight ratio, metabolism and energy efficiency, muscle strength and refresh rate and so on. Any such traits will have an obvious racial distribution.

People born with a good combination of height and athleticism is not genetically programmed or forced to become a basketball player. These qualities can certainly facilitate that choice for sure. As a result, the choice to play basketball has a clear genetic component. Height is also influenced by diet. The actual height requires cooperation of upbringing to be reached. According to some experts, the recent identifications of the mutations demonstrate that neurological disorders can also be caused by a single gene which is aberrant. However, many other neurological diseases like schizophrenia and manic-depression are likely to have polygenic roots. Their interaction with environmental factors will be highly complex.

Diseases pertaining to genes

It has been known from a long time that schizophrenia clusters in families. Identical twin studies have supported that belief. The susceptibility to schizophrenia has a genetic component. However, it is also important to recognize that the genes which predispose a person toward schizophrenia may not be expressed except under some unique environmental circumstances. For example, conditions of great stress. Understanding of how gene expression in brain cells is regulated by environment could serve as the foundation for the design of drugs. This could also be for preventive measures for better controlling gene expression patterns.

The operations of the brain also result from a balance between the inputs received from heredity and environment.

Drinking has a genetic component. Even after social and family influences are considered into account, the evidence remains that when a gene or set of genes are present in an individual or in the family, there is risk for serious alcoholism. Also, certain national and transnational gene pools seem to be predisposed to alcoholism.