Thursday, May 24, 2007

Astrology, Behavioral Genetics and me...

Do you believe in astrology?...... Gosh No!!!!
OK …Do you believe in behavioral Genetics?.....Well mmm….
What has Behavioral Genetics to do with Astrology? Here is my theory…..and you be the judge….

One of the offshoots of Human Genome project is a field of science called Behavioral Genetics. It is rooted on the assumption that Human Behavior and pre-dispositions are often coded in his/her genes, although environmental factors do help mold some of them. The fallout of this postulate is that looking at a human being’s gene one can predict his behavioral traits and interests to a large extent. These traits range from alcoholism, to sexual inclinations.
Another field of genetics similarly posits that proneness to certain diseases like cancer can be predicted by analyzing genes. Scientists can even say what form of cancer one is susceptible to and when in the life span it can hit him or her. For e.g. looking at a gene, soon scientists would be able to say that the person is likely to be affected by Colon cancer when he/she is about 30. (This gene is yet to be identified)

Now take one step back….It looks like scientists can make all this predictions by taking a cell sample from the embryo of a baby yet to be born. Or in other words scientists can write your ‘Horoscope’ in good detail before you are even born…

That is where my question of Astrology comes in…

Astrology looks at star configurations at birth and predicts your future (or writes your Horoscope). Scientists look at the gene and do the same thing. Palmists do the same by looking at the lines on the palm of your hand…
Here are my connectors…
Do stars at birth (or while in womb) influence your genes?
Do lines on your palm reflects your gene in some way?
For these two questions, I do not have answers?

So let me ask my original question again….Do I believe in Astrology?....Well….mmmm

Do you?

-Ashok-