Discuss how you might investigate one personality problem with an ...

[Hungry!]

Discuss how you might investigate one personality problem with an eye to using positional cloning to prevent that problem.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss the methodological importance of MZA twins.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[mbcrismon]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: Positional cloning is a process by which a given gene can be altered by replacing either the whole gene or a portion of the gene to alter the result of the expression of that particular gene. If we targeted one personality factor, say the lack of empathy, which is associated with behaving badly to other people, we might be able to find the gene responsible for that particular personality characteristic. If we then identified an allele that correlated with high empathy and another correlated with being low in empathy and discovered the difference between the two, we might be able to either replace or alter the allele that correlates with low empathy. Hopefully this would make it more likely that the individual would have the functionality that makes it possible to understand and feel the emotions of others. Obviously there are a host of hypothetical examples that a student might use to answer this question.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: MZA twins are monozygotic twins reared apart. This is an extremely important group of individuals for a variety of research projects including many focused on personality development. Monozygotic twins start off genetically identical as they are derived from one egg fertilized by one sperm that splits into two zygotes very early in development. If monozygotic twins are reared in the same family and school then there is the possibility that neither their genome nor their environment are much different. If, however, they are adopted into two different families then there is the possibility that their environments are different. If their genomes are very close to identical then any differences in personality may be attributed to environmental forces.