Are genetically informed designs genetically informative? Comment on McGue, Elkins, Walden, and Iacono (2005) and...

M. McGue, I. Elkins, B. Walden, and W. G. Iacono presented the findings from a twin study examining the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to the developmental trajectories of parent-adolescent relationships. From a behavioral genetics perspective, this study is well conceptualized, is well implemented, and raises some interesting developmental questions. Yet, the classic twin methodology and heritability estimates obfuscate the dynamic gene-ecology transactions that underlie these social developmental trajectories. There is a growing divide between the findings of quantitative behavioral genetics, with its foundational estimate of a statistical genetic influence, and developmental molecular genetics. This comment provides a brief overview of this divide and its implications for the findings of McGue et al. as well as quantitative behavioral genetics more broadly.