The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality.

• Author: Rapala, Mark

Harden, Kathryn Paige. The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality. Princeton University Press, 2021. 300 pages. Hardcover, $29.95.

Social inequalities are conventionally attributed to social factors such as income distribution and educational attainment. The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality, challenges this simplistic view and asserts that genetics also play a large role in life outcomes. Distinguishing her stance from eugenics, which she adamantly rallies against, psychologist Kathryn Paige Harden claims that using genetic information to address social inequalities is essential both pragmatically and morally. In creating a new synthesis that neither ignores the role of genetics nor misappropriates it, Harden acknowledges the importance the genetic lottery plays in shaping our life outcomes, while cautioning against misinterpreting the genetically laden differences among people as implying inborn, societal superiority. Harden examines the nascent field of behavioral genetics in an intellectually humble way, by detailing in lay terms the science of genetics and its applicability to differential life outcomes among people, and by incorporating this knowledge to advance social policies and social considerations that limit inequities.

Harden details the science of genetics in the first half of the book, where the metaphor of the genetic lottery is first introduced. Here, she claims that "the fact that you have your specific DNA sequence, out of all the possible DNA sequences that could have resulted from the union of your father and your mother, is pure luck" (p. 31). This captures the inherent randomness in sexual reproduction and implies that we cannot take any credit for the inborn talents that our genetics afford us, since they were randomly assigned. Harden then transitions to detail how genetic effects are empirically considered in genome wide association studies (GWAS) and in constructing polygenic indices. While these concepts may be technical to some readers depending on their backgrounds, Harden effectively employs an analogy to describe the genome wide association study by exploring which cookbook words are correlated with restaurant quality as measured by average Yelp rating, her self-described cookbook wide association study. She relates this with which individual elements of the genome, commonly SNPs, are correlated with a measurable social characteristic of people, such as educational attainment...