Whether a student graduates high school or achieves a college degree could depend partly on genetic factors beyond their control, according to a national study of thousands of Americans, the Huffington Post reports. In the report, which appears in the July issue of Developmental Psychology, researchers identify three genes [1] — DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4 — that are associated with attention regulation, motivation, violence, cognitive skills and intelligence.
“Being able to show that specific genes are related in any way to academic achievement is a big step forward in understanding the developmental pathways among young people,” the study’s lead author Kevin Beaver said, according to Science Daily. Beaver is a professor at the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University.
Although previous research has investigated links between genes and intelligence, no candidate genes for such a link had yet been identified, according to the study [2]…