Since man occupies his unique position in the world mainly as
a consequence of his superior brain， the subject of its operation is
naturally of great interest. There has been much debate about the
exact importance of genetic factors in human intelligence， but peo-
ple have always felt that inherited differences play a role， some per-
sons being born with better mental endowment than others. Recent
concern about declining scores on scholastic aptitude tests， ad-
ministered to prospective college students， also make timely a re-
consideration of the evidence for heredity in human intellectual de-
velopment.
Human genetics， in actual practice， has for a long time dealt
primarily with abnormalities or diseases， the tools for an approach
to a study of normal or superior development being， therefore， rela-
tively undeveloped. The basic concepts are， however， the same， de-
pendent on the transmission of individual pairs of genes， each
chromosomal locus being responsible for a particular biochemical
process. While abnormalities are usually easy to recognize， the nor-
mal counterparts are frequently less visible. Diseases can thus often
be identified with particular genes， whereas studies of normal char-
acteristics and their range of variation remain less specific in na-
ture.
The present volume is the culmination of years of research in
human genetics， many of the concepts having evolved gradually as ix
|
内容加载中，请稍后...
商品评论（0条）