African American Childhood Development Assignment Paper (Essay Sample)

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African American Childhood Development
Social class status and poverty have continuously been attributed to genes. Both the media and scientists have made claims of the expounding value of genes for behavioral traits, and complex diseases, including some that relate to social class (Landecker and Aaron 335). However, a critical examination of genetic principles dispels the claims that social class, which is largely influenced by social interactions and environment, can be accredited to our genes. If molecular biologists, social scientists, geneticists, and epidemiologists grasped the genetic principles, there could be fewer inflated claims about the role of genes. Though there have been exaggerated claims that relate genes with social class, inherited genetic factors cannot offer an explanation for social organization.
Alleles at the same gene loci do not encrypt for complex traits such as those associated with social class. Rather, they encode for protein, which may function as a hormone, enzyme, or cell receptor, depending on the gene locus (Plomin and Ian 100). At other gene loci, alleles serve to control the transcription of other genes. Therefore, if an individual inherits an allele having a damaging mutation, then complex outcomes such as mental retardation may result. Certain genotypes of several other genes can also lead to mental retardation. We cannot, therefore, claim that one of these genes, when normal, is the gene for intelligence. Though each of these genes may contribute to intelligence, in the presence of the normal genotype, there can be no guarantee for normal intelligence. According to Landecker and Aaron (337), a blemish in another gene can contribute to retardation. Similarly, though the existence of abnormal alleles at one of many different loci leads to short stature, the probability of normal stature will only be increased but not guaranteed by the normal functioning of all the genes. The level of advancement would be dependent on the environmental and genetic backgrounds. Still, if the enhancement occurs, it would not be conveyed to the next generation, except when the adjustment was introduced into the individual's germ cell.
In some cases, environmental factors swamp out some genetic differences. Therefore, for complex traits such as intelligence, aggressiveness, and entrepreneurship, which might be linked to social class, the presence of certain alleles at numerous gene loci and environmental factors, play a part. Additionally, the alleles present at different gene loci will be inherited individually and indecently from others since they reside in different chromosomes or at a distance in the same chromosome (Plomin and Ian 102). Thus, if an in...