Someone claims that if a characteristic is highly heritable, then we cannot change that characteristic by changing the environment. An example that argues strongly against this claim is thatA) monozygotic twins resemble each other more than dizygotic twins do, for a wide variety of behaviors.B) adopted children resemble their biological parents with regard to many physical and behavioral conditions.C) a special diet can prevent the mental retardation associated with PKU.D) people with two genes for Huntington's disease get the disease, but people with only one such gene do not.

Question

Someone claims that if a characteristic is highly heritable, then we cannot change that characteristic by changing the environment. An example that argues strongly against this claim is thatA)  monozygotic twins resemble each other more than dizygotic twins do, for a wide variety of behaviors.B)  adopted children resemble their biological parents with regard to many physical and behavioral conditions.C)  a special diet can prevent the mental retardation associated with PKU.D)  people with two genes for Huntington's disease get the disease, but people with only one such gene do not.

Wesley Houlberg · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : C, Explanation :  The fact that a special diet can prevent the mental retardation associated with PKU shows that a highly heritable trait (in this case, PKU) can be changed by changing the environment (in this case, the diet). This directly contradicts the claim made in the question. Options A and B are true but do not provide evidence against the claim. Option D is not relevant to the claim.

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