Misconceptions About Genes Sapolsky Summary

Robert Sapolsky wrote this article to address the misconceptions about genes. He begins by explaining how the creation of the first cloned mammal brought concern to heads of state, religious leaders, and editorials since they believed that it would produce an exact copy of the original mammal that would act, think, and feel the same as the original. He then goes on to clarify hat genes can't produce emotions, behaviors, or thoughts, it can only produce a protein. Moreover, he talks about the two assumptions about behavioral genetics, which are that genes have minds of their own and that genes are irresistible commanders. To add on, he explains that the stretches of DNA have many names and mentions how the environmental factors have an effect on an individual’s behavior. Lastly, he ends by expressing how in mammals, almost all of the DNA is noncoding and mentions how there is genetic variation in each person, so showing that there's more to an individual’s behavior than simply genes.
Sapolsky presents his information by showing the ideas with relevant information about the topic that help establish his claims. His information on cloning can similarly be seen in the book which explains how the topic of cloning creates a lot of controversy but it's actually something very common. In the book, it explains how cloning can be as simple as cutting a piece of a plant and growing it. Although cloning a plant and cloning a sheep are different it helps to see it in a simplified form that is relatively