''Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are'' is a book by behavioral geneticist

Robert Plomin Robert Joseph Plomin (born 1948) is an American/British psychologist and geneticist best known for his work in twin studies and behavior genetics. A ''Review of General Psychology'' survey, published in 2002, ranked Plomin as the 71st most cited ...

, first published in 2018 by

the MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...

and

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fict ...

. The book argues that genetic factors, and specifically variations in individuals' DNA, has a large effect on human psychological traits, accounting for approximately half of all variation in such traits. The book also claims that genes play a more important role in people's personalities than does the environment. In ''Blueprint'', Plomin argues that environmental effects on human psychological differences, although they exist, are "...mostly random – unsystematic and unstable – which means that we cannot do much about them."

Reviews

Science journalist Matt Ridley praised ''Blueprint'' as "a hugely important book." Behavior geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden criticized the book for overstating the importance of genes for the development of human traits, writing, "Insisting that DNA matters is scientifically accurate; insisting that it is the only thing that matters is scientifically outlandish." However, Plomin has never made such a claim in his book.

Steven Mithen Steven Mithen, (born 16 October 1960) is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading. He has written a number of books, including ''The Singing Neanderthals'' and ''The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion ...

gave the book a mixed review in ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', in which he wrote, "I am happy to bow to Plomin as a psychologist and a geneticist, but I found his sociology rather lacking, in fact quite baffling."

Nathaniel Comfort Nathaniel Charles Comfort is an American historian specializing in the history of biology. He is an associate professor in the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. In 2015, he was appointed the third Baruch S. Blum ...

criticized the book for promoting

genetic determinism Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behaviour is directly controlled by an individual's genes or some component of their physiology, generally at the expense of the role of the environment, whether i ...

and "play ngfast and loose with the concept of heritability". He concluded that "Ultimately, if unintentionally, ''Blueprint'' is a road map for regressive social policy." Journalist

David Goodhart David Goodhart (born 12 September 1956) is a British journalist, commentator and author. He is the founder and a former editor of ''Prospect'' magazine. Early life and education Goodhart is one of seven children born to Valerie Forbes Winant (t ...

reviewed the book more positively, calling it "an important and challenging book that reveals to the general reader what has quietly become a new scientific consensus: psychological traits, including intelligence, are significantly influenced by our genes." Geneticist Barbara Jennings reviewed the book positively, suggesting that those who have criticized it for being "a manifesto for genetic determinism" are "misreading ..the book".

References

2018 non-fiction books Genetics books Behavioural genetics Psychology books Popular science books MIT Press books Allen Lane (imprint) books {{psych-book-stub