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Single Gene Can Boost IQ By Six Points

Posted by timothy on from the pair-of-jeans-can-lower-them-at-least-20 dept.

ananyo (2519492) writes "People are living longer, which is good. But old age often brings a decline in mental faculties and many researchers are looking for ways to slow or halt such decline. One group doing so is led by Dena Dubal of the University of California, San Francisco, and Lennart Mucke of the Gladstone Institutes, also in San Francisco. Dr Dubal and Dr Mucke have been studying the role in aging of klotho, a protein encoded by a gene called KL. A particular version of this gene, KL-VS, promotes longevity. One way it does so is by reducing age-related heart disease. Dr Dubal and Dr Mucke wondered if it might have similar powers over age-related cognitive decline. What they found was startling. KL-VS did not curb decline, but it did boost cognitive faculties regardless of a person's age by the equivalent of about six IQ points. If this result, just published in Cell Reports, is confirmed, KL-VS will be the most important genetic agent of non-pathological variation in intelligence yet discovered."

7 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. First post! by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1, Funny

    Guess I got that gene!

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:First post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      But those with it would guess not.

  2. Re:wow, people still believe in the IQ myth? That by HornWumpus · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't worry, scrote. There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick-ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  3. Re:Six whole points?! by Jmc23 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're right. We're going to need a helluva lot more than 6 points to get people like you to understand the significance of raising the baseline.

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    Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
  4. Re:"boost"??? by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Also if it's the length of life, they took the wrong goddess, not Clotho but Lachesis is responsible for that.

  5. Re:Six whole points?! by doti · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, but it's six points for a single gene.

    If you buy 100 of those genes you get 600 points! You'll became a geneius.

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    factor 966971: 966971
  6. I must be SOOOO smart by pr0t0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    A single gene can boost IQ by six points? I've got something like 24,000 of them!

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    I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.