Comments on: Identical Twins Usually Don’t Die From the Same Thing: The Lost Message About Genes & Disease

By: September Amyx

September Amyx — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:59:54 +0000

Also this may be a moot social criticism if the information about the impending effect of a planet rocketing around our Sun soon is remotely true, here it goes. News reporters ARE RECKLESS of the wide reaching social consequences of their communication and actions. The power they have over the public’s perception and understanding inherently makes them responsible for understanding and reporting in a wholistic way. A press conference in the past was a vehicle to present NEW and UNKNOWN information of impact to society at large. Now is it a tool for manipulating a media that has abandoned it’s social responsibility. There may be replies that media never accepted that responsibility in the first place, but that only underscores that IT IS their responsibility. What the public does with that information afterwards is then the public and our representative’s responsibility. The fact that news media is surprised when they should be absolutely embarrassed at reporting about a “paper was generally… flawed” shows how unthinking or critical of the information they are presented with. Reporters should view ANY information as if it were the statement ‘the moon is made of green cheese.’ The who, what, where, when, why, and how of reporting news in an objective way is the morally and socially responsible way. The fact that there are some who don’t agree with that shows how immature they are. The role of news reporting is one for mature, intelligent, morally and socially responsible people. If that role is usurped, then it’s up to those who see that it has been and their representatives to correct the situation, which is why we have the Occupy and 99% movements.

By: Fleur

Fleur — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:12:35 +0000

I don’t think that the fault lies especially with the scientists/researchers here. And, speaking as a journalist, press releases can cause even more confusion!!! However, I think at least part of the problem here is that the layperson/average Joe has a very poor understanding of risk and probability.
So, we go back to general education — ie, giving people a better grasp of maths and science in the first place.

By: Ellen K.

Ellen K. — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:09:14 +0000

I’m not surprised by the media’s surprise. Yes, pretty much every study I’ve ever read about that uses identical twins to study if something seems to be genetic has a correlation between twins of less than 100%, clearly showing that the disease in question has other contributing factors besides genes. However, the articles covering these studies, despite quoting those numbers, treat it as if the disease or disorder in question has been shown to be genetic, period. No nuance.

By: Identical Twins Usually Don’t Die From the Same Thing: The Lost Message About … – Discover Magazine (blog) | Twins Foundation Blog

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:03:10 +0000

[...] Discover Magazine (blog) [...]

By: chris beirne

chris beirne — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:10:16 +0000

Fantastic post! As I am sure you know, the issues presented here are by no means exclusive to the genetics field, but all scientific disciplines! Writing in such a way as to engage non-scientists (without being sensationalist) is a valuable skill to have in the locker.