Why shouldn't IQ be tested by genetic testing?

Scientists have demonstrated a link between hundreds of different genes with human intelligence. But why should not be equal to genetic tests.

According to the Technology Review page, in fact there are now companies that provide DNA testing services to predict the level of intelligence as well as the child's ability to succeed in learning for about $ 50 / time.

American behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin at King's University in England, also where he presided over a long-term study with 13,000 twins of the UK, argued that with his genetic research achievements People can now read a child's DNA and know how smart it will be.

Intelligence predictions based on DNA are not highly accurate.(Photo: TECHNOLOGYREVIEW).

However, until now, DNA-based intelligence predictions are not very accurate. The genetic changes related to the test point explain only the difference of less than 10% of intelligence among the people of European backgrounds studied.

At the same time, MIT Technology Review magazine said many educators have expressed concerns about new advances in gene research. According to them, it is not recommended to use DNA tests to assess the academic potential of children.

Catherine Bliss, a sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of a book on the question of genetic use in social science, said: "The idea of ​​what we will get This information is everywhere, everyone will know who you are, how you will become, to me really scary. "

Ms. Bliss also said that, based on genes to diagnose IQ like that, it is like people are turning the world into where each person has been "arranged" according to their innate abilities, and is also a The trend of fostering eugenics, a theory that can improve human quality by allowing only a group of people to have children.

According to psychologists, IQ tests measure an element called "g" , the synthetic element of intelligence. People with special abilities in math, spatial thinking, language ability or other skills may have a higher "g" factor.

But that is not all. Factors also have close relations with income, happiness, health and longevity.

Many scientists also discussed with MIT Technology Review that they do not believe IQ tests can accurately point to the intellectual potential of a human being.

Danielle Posthuma, who chaired a large research on 2017 IQ, said: "We will never be able to test someone's DNA and say your IQ is 120".