# Does DNA alone account for intelligence

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dna-alone-account-for-intelligence/1017321>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 21, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dna-alone-account-for-intelligence/1017321 "2025-04-21T19:02:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dna-alone-account-for-intelligence/1017321/41 "2025-05-07T15:08:47Z")

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> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> Are you saying photons or sound waves affect epigenetics? I’m not sure what other non-chemical mechanisms could have an impact

No, it is a (mis)quote from Terry Pratchett. The wiggly molecules are DNA. (He may have written “twisty”.) More than DNA is what binds to the DNA in various ways regulating them. In the Discworld, Susan Sto Helit had, well, an _interesting_ problem with the capabilities she inherited from her step-grandfather.

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**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dna-alone-account-for-intelligence/1017321/42 "2025-05-07T18:51:17Z")

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> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> My personal, non-scientific take has long been that genetics set the _limits_ of your intelligence (your highest potential, your most likely actual IQ or whatever measurement you care to use) but environment has a lot to do with where you _actually_ wind up.

There’s a term I ran across years ago: “canalization”. The idea being that the genes metaphorically work like a canal defining the boundaries of possibility, while a given individual with those genes is like a piece of wood tossed into the canal. The _exact_ path the wood will take is a matter of chance and external factors, but it’s always going to stay within the canal short of something drastic happening.

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