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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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23

Deadly Genes Make Euro Jews Smarter: Scientist

Scientists spark furor with controversial DNA theory

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(Newser) – The genes that make European Jews susceptible to deadly diseases may also increase their intelligence, two scientists say. Arizona physicist Gregory Cochran stumbled on the theory when pondering why natural selection hasn't removed bad DNA from the gene pool that makes Ashkenazi Jews get so many diseases. His answer: The DNA that endured made them smarter than other racial groups, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Cochran notes that although Ashkenazi Jews constitute 3% of the US population, they’ve received more than 25% of American Nobel Prizes and make up 22% of Ivy Leaguers. “This is not a legitimate area of research,” said one anthropologist, while other critics fault Cochran for not performing experiments. He retorts, “OK, then I guess Einstein's papers didn't mean anything either.”

Ashkenazi Jews have a higher rate of some deadly genetic diseases and of high IQs.
Ashkenazi Jews have a higher rate of some deadly genetic diseases and of high IQs.   (Shutter Stock)
A young Jewish couple walk past the Synagogue de la Paix synagogue April 4, 2009 in Strasbourg, France.
A young Jewish couple walk past the Synagogue de la Paix synagogue April 4, 2009 in Strasbourg, France.   (Getty Images)
The newly built synagogue is reflected in the text covered glass walls of the Jewish Museum on the opening day of the new Jewish Museum on March 21, 2007 in Munich, Germany.
The newly built synagogue is reflected in the text covered glass walls of the Jewish Museum on the opening day of the new Jewish Museum on March 21, 2007 in Munich, Germany.   (Getty Images)
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Do they have genetic theories about why Latinos and African Americans perform worse academically? - Neil Risch, director of the Institute for Human Genetics at UC San Francisco

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23 comments
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NutsInNY
Apr 18, 09 7:16 PM CDT
I'm SURE there's a brilliant punch line for this story -- if I only had that smart gene. Reply
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joeybaker
Apr 18, 09 7:57 PM CDT
Punchline: Nazis got it right! Jews ARE smarter! :) Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
NutsInNY
Apr 19, 09 12:17 PM CDT
Not too shabby, JB. (You have the funny gene, at least?)
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ethical_person
Apr 18, 09 9:05 PM CDT
Through my Dad, I have a few of those genes -- totally wasted on me, though. Although I do have some strangely brillant cousins of his side . . . Reply
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Jojo
Apr 18, 09 9:35 PM CDT
Actually, they DO have genetic theories why African-Americans perform worse academically. The man who discovered it quit the testing because the findings were becoming too "controversial". It was becoming clearer and clearer in his studies that intelligence was specifically linked to race and the reporting of it would have ended his career. His name was Bruce Lahn. Look it up. And if you don't believe it would have ended his career, also look up "Dr James Watson" - the man won a Nobel prize for discovering the structure of DNA - and his career pretty much ended when he made the statement that African Americans were intellectually inferior to Caucasians. Seriously, who is this Neil Risch, director of the Institute for Human Genetics at UC San Francisco ??? How is it possible a person in his position had never known about any of that? Reply
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