Does FASD cause inheritable traits?

[TZK]

Question...

 

If you were to date a girl, who had a slightly below average IQ like 85 or 80 or therabouts most likely because her mother consumed alcohol during pregnancy, would any inheritable genes related to iq be intact from the girls family before the alcohol consumption..? Like if the girls grandma and mother both had iqs of 125?

[TheFaithfulStone]

I doubt the IQ is inheritable, but addictive personality types might very well be.

 

Bad news.

 

Then there is the added problem that eventually every girl turns into her mother. B)

 

TFS

[InfiniteNow]

IQ is not a very good measure of intelligence, nor is it a specific set of genes which dicate intelligence, but a combination of nature and nurture, but with that said...

 

Her mother's drinking impacted her during her development in the womb (there is much research on this called "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome"), and every part of the girl someone is dating is a result of the sum total of her genes and experiences.

 

When this girl conceives her own child later in life, all of these things which came before (her own genetics and experience, including her fetal development in the womb of a mother who consumed alcohol) will impact the child she conceives.

 

So, a combination of her genetics, her development inside a mother who drank, and her post-natal development will all impact the state (and potential) of the egg at conception of her own child. Sperm from the father, his genetics, mindset, nutrition, etc., all play a role as well.

 

See more here:

 

MedlinePlus: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

[billg]

FASD does not cause genetic damage to the child, rather it impairs their development. So any genes that may affect IQ would still be "intact" in this FASD individual, and if high IQ was heritable the individuals children would be more likely to have IQs resembling their grandparents' than their mothers, assuming other factors influencing IQ were not different.

 

But of course in practice, even if IQ is heritable, which is a controversial claim, other factors influencing IQ would be difficult to identify let alone control, and IQ still may vary greatly between generations.