In a @currentbiology.bsky.social paper earlier this year, led by @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social, we analysed Beethoven’s genome with a polygenic index related to musicality, as a way to communicate limits of genetic predictions at the individual level & the complexity of links between DNA & behaviour: - ThreadSky

profsimonfisher.bsky.social • 81 days ago

In a @currentbiology.bsky.social paper earlier this year, led by @laurawesseldijk.bsky.social, we analysed Beethoven’s genome with a polygenic index related to musicality, as a way to communicate limits of genetic predictions at the individual level & the complexity of links between DNA & behaviour:

Comments

ebablab.bsky.social•73 days ago

That is very good…!

michaelhoffman.bsky.social•73 days ago

This is amazing. Thank you for this.

neurostats.org•73 days ago

📌

joshdubnau.bsky.social•72 days ago

1/5 Thanks for sharing this interesting study. The conclusions you draw regarding the limitations of using polygenic scores to predict musical abilities of individual people are of course important, as are the issues of portability.

But i think your critiques of this field do not go far enough.

joshdubnau.bsky.social•72 days ago

2/5 Your report on Beethoven’s low predicted music ability based on polygenic index also emphasizes that GWAS for traits such as musicality are entirely meaningless. Such sociological traits are so dependent on culture and society that the genetic effects identified are biologically uninterpretable

joshdubnau.bsky.social•72 days ago

3/5 i.e. its not just that polygenic scores lack portability and fail to be predictive for individuals. It is also that the relationship between genes and the these kind of traits can never be meaningfully established to ramify through biological systems in any way that offers a single insight.

joshdubnau.bsky.social•72 days ago

4/5 This needs to be said clearly: Not one single testable biological hypothesis has ever been generated by any genetic study of ‘sociological traits’. (By sociological trait, i mean things like musicianship, criminality, intelligence, socioeconomic status, educational attainment)

joshdubnau.bsky.social•72 days ago

5/5 It would be bad enough for an entire field of genetics to fail in providing a single biological insight. But what is worse is that this field does actual damage to society.

The entire field of ‘genetics of sociological traits’ is harmful, dangerous pseudoscience. It feeds scientific racism.

profsimonfisher.bsky.social•81 days ago

Beethoven, one of the most celebrated musicians in history, scored unremarkably on the musicality-related polygenic index, ranking between the 9th & 11th percentile based on modern samples. In our paper we explain why this is no surprise & how it offers a nice example for teaching complex genetics.

timfrayling.bsky.social•72 days ago

Also illustrated well by comparing actual height to Polygenic height score. Leave your DNA at a crime scene & police will be able to « predict » your height to within ~8inches. Although this imprecision similar for many commonly used non genetic risk factors eg LDLC & CHD & still potentially useful