Intelligence and genetic disease link

Jun 6 2005

A new study by the University of Utah on Ashkenazi Jews has suggested an unusual link between their genetic diseases and their higher intellectual ability.

The study says an unusual pattern of diseases among the Ashkenazis of central and northern Europe is the result of natural selection for enhanced intellectual ability.

According to the researchers the restriction of Ashkenazim in medieval Europe to occupations that required more than usual mental agility, was the selective force.

They say Ashkenazic diseases like Tay-Sachs are a side effect of genes that promote intelligence, and say for 900 years Jews in Europe were restricted to managerial occupations, which were intellectually demanding.

The study has incurred a very mixed reaction, while some scientists say the finding is implausible, others say the researchers have made an interesting case.

Ashkenazi Jews make up 3 percent of the population of the United States but have won 27 percent of its Nobel prizes. They also account for more than half of world chess champions.

The study appears in Cambridge University's Journal of Biosocial Science.