Write a short press release for an imaginary future study on the genetics of aggression, addressing how such information could or should be used in a legal setting.

Imagine it is the future and you have just completed the largest-ever study of the genetics of aggression (either a twin-heritability study or a GWAS, your choice).

Write a short (no more than 500 words) press release for your paper, using complete sentences formatted into paragraphs and following best practices for public science communication/popular sources.

Include at the beginning of the press release:

  • Information on the method (a brief, layperson-friendly description) which must include -at a minimum - either a twin study to estimate heritability, or a GWAS to find associated SNPs;

  • A description of your sample of participants (as many and with whatever demographic characteristics you would like);

  • Your phenotype operationalization (how did you define and measure ‘aggression’?); and

  • The primary results, including at least one effect size.

All of the above information will be completely made-up. Still, it must conform to what we would expect given the themes that emerge across phenotypes (e.g. everything is somewhat but not completely heritable, many genes of small effect, etc.).

At the end of the press release, briefly (in 2-3 sentences) address how this information could, and whether it should, be used in the context of the criminal justice system. That is, if you were to be called as an “expert witness” in a murder trial (such as Tennessee v WaldroupLinks to an external site.) on the basis of your just-published-imaginary-paper and expertise in the genetics of aggression, what would you say?

Imaginary paper citation:

Your-Last-Name, et al. (2027). The genetics of aggression. The Journal of Imaginary Studies, 1(1), 1-10.

Next: 14.0. Genetic Engineering

Previous: 13.1. Additional Readings

Home: Table of Contents