Dr. Dean Edell: We are all born with certain physical characteristics determined by our genes, but does our DNA dictate how we act?
William R. Clark: Genes may very well determine how we behave in given situations.
Dr. Dean Edell: Researches say they are learning now that genes help control how we interpret our environment.
Steven Pinker: There has to be some kind of an age circuitry in place that allows us to create culture and acquire culture and do the learning.
Dr. Dean Edell: But can environment influence which genes are triggered?
David Moore: What really matters is which genes are turned on and which genes are turned off, and different genes are turned on and off in different circumstances.
Dr. Dean Edell: That leaves to debate over the role parents play in influencing their children.
Steven Pinker: Parents aren't the only aspect of the environment; there is also the surrounding culture.
Dr. Dean Edell: Some believe the stronger social influences happen outside the home.
Judith Rich Harris: Children live in separate worlds and each world is very important, but there is very little carry over from one world to the other, and what is carried over is whatever is genetic.
Dr. Dean Edell: Controversial author, Judith Rich, says how well a child turns out is up to the child, not the parent. Others find that troubling.
Stanley Greenspan: We encourage parents to be either passive or hopeless or helpless in the face of certain challenges that they would assume were genetic.
Male Speaker: As the debate rages, what's clear is that as scientists study DNA, they are learning more about ways to fight disease and perhaps understand better what makes us tick. I am Dr. Dean Edell.
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