My Family Pedigree (:
Just incase you cant read the above key:
Square - Male
Circle - Female
Line between - married
Line above - siblings
Line down - children
All shaded regions - the male or female represented tasted the strip
All clear regions - the male or female represented did NOT taste the strip
Half colored regions - the male or female represented tasted a little
During class we did a gene test to see if any of us had a certain gene. The test was to taste a strip of paper to see if you experienced the taste. I ended up tasting the strip. (btw--it was terrible!!!) A couple days later, I tested my family. My father ended up tasting the strip like i did. My mother and sisters did not, but my niece also did. Therefore, I can infer that me & my father have the same gene and it was passed onto my niece. I can also infer my mom passed her gene onto my sisters because they had the same reaction.
So what we are looking at here is basically: what is eugenics? Wiki defines eugenics as an "applied science or the biosocial movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population" basically referring to human population.
What were the social origins of eugenics?
People started being curious about eugenics in the first three decades of the 20th century. American eugenics started during the reconstruction period after the American Revolution and the Civil War. As time went by eugenics seemed to be to the underlying cause of social problems, such as prostitution. Basically, they thought the sterilization of one "defective" adult could help prevent more of them. Since people had strong faith in science to fix things, they invested in eugenics. They believed the study of eugenics would solve all human flaws.
What were the scientific origins of eugenics?
Eugenics came about in the 20th century by Francis Galton. He encouraged healthy people to have more kids. The first eugenic sterilization law in the United States occurred in 1907. By this time most scientists believed environments caused eugenic flaws. They believed "defectives" should be prevented from breeding!
What research methods did they use & what flaws occurred?
Researchers attempted to trace flaws through pedigrees or family trees. They would gather medical history and other information in the pedigrees and define the dominate trait but, this presented a problem because they had to find families large enough and with enough history to research. Mendel brought the idea that each trait was governed by a pair of "factors" each inherited by the parents. They also had difficulties defining traits such as eye color, and blood group but they were more interested in mental behavior. They also had poor survey and statistical methods. False quantification was a problem because they assumed IQ tests were accurate.
QUICK FACT: By 1924, 3000 people had been involuntarily sterilized in America!
How does this impact us today?
Without these researchers, we would see in increase in baby deaths. Diseases wouldn't be solved and many people would still be effected. Eugenics brought tons of options to people that before had no options. So thank you eugenics!
Information thanks to:
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/
What were the scientific origins of eugenics?
Eugenics came about in the 20th century by Francis Galton. He encouraged healthy people to have more kids. The first eugenic sterilization law in the United States occurred in 1907. By this time most scientists believed environments caused eugenic flaws. They believed "defectives" should be prevented from breeding!
What research methods did they use & what flaws occurred?
Researchers attempted to trace flaws through pedigrees or family trees. They would gather medical history and other information in the pedigrees and define the dominate trait but, this presented a problem because they had to find families large enough and with enough history to research. Mendel brought the idea that each trait was governed by a pair of "factors" each inherited by the parents. They also had difficulties defining traits such as eye color, and blood group but they were more interested in mental behavior. They also had poor survey and statistical methods. False quantification was a problem because they assumed IQ tests were accurate.
QUICK FACT: By 1924, 3000 people had been involuntarily sterilized in America!
How does this impact us today?
Without these researchers, we would see in increase in baby deaths. Diseases wouldn't be solved and many people would still be effected. Eugenics brought tons of options to people that before had no options. So thank you eugenics!
Information thanks to:
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/
