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Humanities, Social Sciences & Teacher Education
G is for Genes
The Impact of Genetics on Education and Achievement
Kathryn Asbury & Robert Plomin
ISBN: 978-1-118-48278-0 • 216 pages • November 2013
Licensed in Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese,
Spanish, Turkish
Bridging the divide between geneticists and educationalists to show how this can benefit all
children, and also schools, teachers, and society at large.
With an engaging writing style that breaks down complex science for a wide audience, the authors
draw on a wealth of behavioural genetic research to show that genetic influence is not the same
as genetic determinism and how, in many instances, genes are expressed differently in different
environments. The authors also present their vision of what the genetically sensitive school
of the near future might look like, along with a series of policy recommendations to facilitate a
consideration of genetic influence on learning in the context of schools and classrooms. Of vital
interest to parents, educators, and policy makers alike, G is for Genes offers invaluable insights
into one of most important pieces of the intricate puzzle that makes up a child’s life.
Kathryn Asbury is a Lecturer in the Centre for Psychology in Education at the University of York,
UK. She has published widely on the influence of home and school environments on children’s
achievement, behaviour, and well-being.
Robert Plomin is the Professor of Behavioural Genetics at the MRC Social, Genetic and
Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London, UK. He is the founder and principal
investigator of the Twins’ Early Development Study (TEDS), and has published more than 500
papers and a dozen books on behavior genetics.