3 - Gene Concepts and Genetic Concepts

Summary

ABSTRACT

This chapter explores connections between the concept of a gene and the concept of a genetic trait. Each concept is problematic in various ways, and it might be thought that there are some common roots to these problems, and that we might aid such discussions by clarifying connections between them. There are several reasons to see the gene and genetic trait concepts as connected, but there are also reasons to be skeptical of this. Some of the ambiguity and complication arises from the fact that there are two different categories of genetic trait concepts, and these are related to the gene concepts to different degrees and in different ways.

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I explore some relations between two sets of philosophical issues concerning genetics. The first is discussed at length and from several perspectives in the rest of this volume: the concept of the gene, how it has changed historically, and whether a clear, coherent, and general account can be given of it in light of our present knowledge and practice. The latter task is especially challenging, particularly because of the increasingly detailed and precise knowledge of the genetic material, including recent findings about the wide variety of ways in which genes are structured and the complexity of genetic regulation and interaction (Beurton, this volume; Burian 1985,1995; Kitcher 1982,1992). The second set of issues concerns the question of what it is for a trait to be genetic, what underlies our classification of traits as genetic or not.