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Going beyond heritability: Mechanisms of gene–culture coevolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2022

Shinobu Kitayama
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. kitayama@umich.edu; https://kitayama.psych.lsa.umich.edu/wp/ qinggang@umich.edu; https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/graduate-students/qinggang.html
Qinggang Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. kitayama@umich.edu; https://kitayama.psych.lsa.umich.edu/wp/ qinggang@umich.edu; https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/graduate-students/qinggang.html

Abstract

The target article offers an important cautionary note on the interpretation of the heritability index. However, it does not directly address how culture and genes might interact. Here, we suggest that one allele of the dopamine D4 receptor gene promotes the acquisition of cultural values and practices and likely has coevolved with the human culture over the last 50,000 years.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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