The Genome Factor

What the Social Genomics Revolution Reveals about Ourselves, Our History, and the Future

Dalton Conley, Jason Fletcher

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780691183169, 9780691164748
• eBook ISBN: 9781400883240
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Genetics & Genomics
• Index: Social Sciences

How genomics is revolutionizing the social sciences

For a century, social scientists have avoided genetics like the plague. But the nature-nurture wars are over. In the past decade, a small but intrepid group of economists, political scientists, and sociologists have harnessed the genomics revolution to paint a more complete picture of human social life than ever before. The Genome Factor describes the latest astonishing discoveries being made at the scientific frontier where genomics and the social sciences intersect.

The Genome Factor reveals that there are real genetic differences by racial ancestry—but ones that don't conform to what we call black, white, or Latino. Genes explain a significant share of who gets ahead in society and who does not, but instead of giving rise to a genotocracy, genes often act as engines of mobility that counter social disadvantage. An increasing number of us are marrying partners with similar education levels as ourselves, but genetically speaking, humans are mixing it up more than ever before with respect to mating and reproduction. These are just a few of the many findings presented in this illuminating and entertaining book, which also tackles controversial topics such as genetically personalized education and the future of reproduction in a world where more and more of us are taking advantage of cheap genotyping services like 23andMe to find out what our genes may hold in store for ourselves and our children.

The Genome Factor shows how genomics is transforming the social sciences—and how social scientists are integrating both nature and nurture into a unified, comprehensive understanding of human behavior at both the individual and society-wide levels.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Molecular Me: Welcome to the Coming Social Genomics Revolution
• Chapter 2: The Durability of Heritability: Genes and Inequality
• Chapter 3: If Heritability Is So High, Why Can’t We Find It?
• Chapter 4: Genetic Sorting and Cavorting in American Society
• Chapter 5: Is Race Genetic? A New Take on the Most Fraught, Distracting, and Nonsensical Question in the World
• Chapter 6: The Wealth of Nations: Something in Our Genes?
• Chapter 7: The Environment Strikes Back: The Promise and Perils of Personalized Policy
• Conclusion: Whither Genotocracy?
• Epilogue: Genotocracy Rising, 2117
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Appendix 4
• Appendix 5
• Appendix 6
• Notes
• Index