Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Genetic Screens

Genetic Screens

Genetic screens are tools used to identify genes and mutations responsible for phenotypes of interest. Genetic screens help identify individuals or a group of people at risk of developing genetic diseases and help them with early intervention, targeted therapy, and reproductive options.
Forward genetic screens
Forward or “classical” genetic screens involve creating random mutations in an organism’s DNA using radiation, mutagens, or insertion of additional bases, which result in visible changes...

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

Diploid organisms have two alleles of each gene, one from each parent, in their somatic cells. Therefore, each individual contributes two alleles to the gene pool of the population. The gene pool of a population is the sum of every allele of all genes within that population and has some degree of variation. Genetic variation is typically expressed as a relative frequency, which is the percentage of the total population that has a given allele, genotype or phenotype.

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...

Bias

Bias

Bias refers to any tendency that prevents a question from being considered unprejudiced. In research, bias occurs when one outcome or answer is selected or encouraged over others in sampling or testing. Bias can occur during any research phase, including study design, data collection, analysis, and publication.
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).

Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs

Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs

Behavior genetics explores how genetic inheritance influences human behavior. It focuses on how genes, passed from parents to offspring, contribute to the development of behavioral traits and tendencies. This branch of genetics seeks to understand the complex interplay between inherited genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping our behaviors.
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Imputing Parental Genotypes Through Mendelian Imputation: Ethical and Legal Considerations.

Behavior genetics·2026

Same author

Polygenic Scores for Schizophrenia and Educational Attainment Predict Global Functioning Across Psychiatric Hospitalization Among People with Schizophrenia.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2025

Same author

Co-recovery of physical size and cognitive ability from infancy to adolescence: A twin study.

Child development·2024

Same author

Race, Ethnicity, and the Scarr-Rowe Hypothesis: A Cautionary Example of Fringe Science Entering the Mainstream.

Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science·2021

Same author

Genetically informed, multilevel analysis of the Flynn Effect across four decades and three WISC versions.

Child development·2021

Same author

Socioeconomic status impacts genetic influences on the longitudinal dynamic relationship between temperament and general cognitive ability in childhood: The Louisville Twin Study.

Child development·2021

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Developing a Behavioral Box for Assessing Prepulse Inhibition and Neural Activity in Psychiatric Animal Models

Developing a Behavioral Box for Assessing Prepulse Inhibition and Neural Activity in Psychiatric Animal Models

Published on: July 22, 2025

The Preprint Problem: Fringe, Genetically Informed Studies of Group Differences in Behavior Housed on Open Science

Evan J Giangrande^1,2

¹Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Hospital, Cambridge, MA, USA. egiangrande@broadinstitute.org.

Behavior Genetics

|May 15, 2026

Summary

Preprint servers host pseudoscientific studies on behavioral genetics, advancing rejected racial hereditarian and eugenic theories. This research, lacking peer review, gains undeserved legitimacy, fueling scientific racism.

Keywords:

Eugenics Open science Racial hereditarianism Scientific racism Weaponization

More Related Videos

Paradigms for Behavioral Assessment in Drosophila Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Paradigms for Behavioral Assessment in Drosophila Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Published on: September 6, 2024

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

Published on: November 5, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 17, 2026

Developing a Behavioral Box for Assessing Prepulse Inhibition and Neural Activity in Psychiatric Animal Models

Developing a Behavioral Box for Assessing Prepulse Inhibition and Neural Activity in Psychiatric Animal Models

Published on: July 22, 2025

Paradigms for Behavioral Assessment in Drosophila Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Paradigms for Behavioral Assessment in Drosophila Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Published on: September 6, 2024

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster

Published on: November 5, 2015

Area of Science:

Behavioral genetics
Open science platforms
Scientific methodology

Background:

Preprint servers and open science platforms enable rapid research dissemination but lack peer review.
This openness allows pseudoscientific studies, particularly on behavioral genetics and group differences, to gain traction.
Such studies often promote discredited racial hereditarian and eugenic theories.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify and characterize pseudoscientific studies on group differences in behavior hosted on preprint servers.
To assess the scope of the problem and its implications for scientific integrity.
To identify potential responses to the misuse of open science platforms.

Main Methods:

Systematic identification and analysis of preprints on popular open science platforms.
Characterization of study topics, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks.
Evaluation of genetic analyses for flawed assumptions regarding heritability and polygenic scores.

Main Results:

Dozens of pseudoscientific preprints were identified.
Commonly analyzed phenotypes included intelligence and related traits.
Studies frequently advanced rejected hereditarian and eugenic claims, using flawed genetic analyses.

Conclusions:

The Preprint Problem highlights the weaponization of academic research mechanisms like Open Science.
There is a concerning resurgence of scientific racism and eugenics facilitated by preprint platforms.
Addressing this requires developing strategies to mitigate the impact of pseudoscientific research in open access environments.