The Dunedin Study has identified a fundamental developmental mechanism that completely rewrites the nature versus nurture argument. It is a genetic switch which is thrown by life events – nature loads the gun but nurture pulls the trigger. This episode tracks the hunt for the mechanism using three specific examples - violence in men, depression, & cannabis induced schizophrenia.
The march towards the dominance of GM products in agriculture started 15 years ago but where will it end? Today in Argentina all agriculture is transgenic but after 15 years the weeds have adapted and the Glyphosate no longer works. In response farmers have started using hazardous chemicals in an indiscriminate and unregulated manner. In some areas the rate of serious genetic deformities in children has exploded. We meet the families and doctors convinced that living so close farms is the cause.
"The idea that the poor are genetically different from the rich or that men are naturally more intelligent than women may seem laughable but it’s an argument regularly used as a social weapon to stall the advancement of equality and maintain the status quo. Since the discovery of DNA, the idea that genes are somehow responsible for everything has permeated society."
