Origins of magic: review of genetic and epigenetic effects

doi:10.1136/bmj.39414.582639.BE

BMJ 2007;335:1299-1301 (22 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.39414.582639.BE

Altered states

Origins of magic: review of genetic and epigenetic effects

Sreeram V Ramagopalan, DPhil candidate¹^,2, Marian Knight, senior clinical research fellow³, George C Ebers, professor of clinical neurology¹^,2, Julian C Knight, senior research fellow¹

¹ Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, ² Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, ³ National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford

Correspondence to: J C Knight julian{at}well.ox.ac.uk

Objective To assess the evidence for a genetic basis to magic.

Design Literature review.

Setting Harry Potter novels of J K Rowling.

Participants Muggles, witches, wizards, and squibs.

Interventions Limited.

Main outcome measures Family and twin studies, magical ability,and specific magical skills.

Results Magic shows strong evidence of heritability, with familialaggregation and concordance in twins. Evidence suggests magicalability to be a quantitative trait. Specific magical skills,notably being able to speak to snakes, predict the future, andchange hair colour, all seem heritable.

Conclusions A multilocus model with a dominant gene for magicmight exist, controlled epistatically by one or more loci, possiblyrecessive in nature. Magical enhancers regulating gene expressionmaybe involved, combined with mutations at specific genes implicatedin speech and hair colour such as FOXP2 and MCR1.

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A Partial Truth: Trevor LP Watts
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Re: Was medical research funding spent on this?: John Brown
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