Scientists are often called upon to answer fundamental questions about human variation and its ramifications. While it is easy to get caught up in the idea of being so vastly genetically similar to our ape-like relatives, the assumptions underlying genetic data have more significance than the data itself. This can be seen when studying genetic and behavioral parallels of apes and humans, and how each affects the other with regards to phenotypic similarity.
For all of its grandeur, a DNA sequence is highly singular in its process of creation. It utilizes a long series of A, G, C, and T subunits that code for every protein and aspect of our genotype. These strands of DNA, as well as the proteins they create, are often used as a basis for genetic comparisons between species, as skewed or inaccurate as they may be (Marks 2002: 33). Align a pair of sequences from different species, and one could easily tabulate their similarities: two species could strike a match fifty out of one hundred times, making said species fifty percent genetically identical. Geneticists have been able to determine …show more content…
Many scientists have attempted to reduce human behavior to a simplified genetic basis, claiming genetics as the sole foundation for behavior. However, “the bulk of human behavioral variation is between groups and is nongenetic,” and instead stems from culture, society, and any other external forces (Marks, 118). Biological interpretations of human behavior are often searched for, yet it is impossible to strip a person of every external factor that may influence behavior in an attempt to examine behavioral parallels. According to Marks, “it is easier to analogize to human behavior superficially than to prove a meaningful biological connection” (Marks,
For all of its grandeur, a DNA sequence is highly singular in its process of creation. It utilizes a long series of A, G, C, and T subunits that code for every protein and aspect of our genotype. These strands of DNA, as well as the proteins they create, are often used as a basis for genetic comparisons between species, as skewed or inaccurate as they may be (Marks 2002: 33). Align a pair of sequences from different species, and one could easily tabulate their similarities: two species could strike a match fifty out of one hundred times, making said species fifty percent genetically identical. Geneticists have been able to determine …show more content…
Many scientists have attempted to reduce human behavior to a simplified genetic basis, claiming genetics as the sole foundation for behavior. However, “the bulk of human behavioral variation is between groups and is nongenetic,” and instead stems from culture, society, and any other external forces (Marks, 118). Biological interpretations of human behavior are often searched for, yet it is impossible to strip a person of every external factor that may influence behavior in an attempt to examine behavioral parallels. According to Marks, “it is easier to analogize to human behavior superficially than to prove a meaningful biological connection” (Marks,