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Unit 16 Unit Sixteen TEXT A. Don’t Blame DNA The really critical implication of the discovery still lies with the door that geneticists have 1 opened on the environmental influences of our behaviour, our personalities and our health, and with 2 the critical blow it strikes on the idea of biological determinism. For the past decade, the public has witnessed a rising epidemic of tales of discoveries of genes that dispose humanity to homosexuality, to alcoholism, to political persuasion, to running ability, 3 and to artistic taste. 4 But even before yesterday’s revelations by Venter , scientists had stopped believing in the gay gene. Yet belief in its existence still persists among the public. The assault on biological determinism that geneticists have now triggered will be timely, and will prove that human nature is a lot more complex and intriguing than determinists have given it credit for.5 Even more importantly, 6 the discovery has critical implications for our understanding of idea of free will. It has become increasingly fashionable for individuals particularly in the United States to blame 7 actions and crimes on the influence of their genes. Consider