Genetics of social behavior

The genetics of social behavior is an area of research that attempts to address the question of the role that genes play in modulating the neural circuits in the brain which influence social behavior. Model genetic species, such as D.melanogaster (common fruit fly) and Apis mellifera (honey bee), have been rigorously studied and proven to be instrumental in developing the science of genetics. Many examples of genetic factors of social behavior have been derived from a bottom-up method of altering a gene and observing the change it produces in an organism. Sociogenomics is an integrated field that accounts for the complete cellular genetic complement of an organism from a top-down approach, accounting for all biotic influences that effect behavior on a cellular level.

Sociogenomics, a subdiscipline of genomics, is an integrative approach to behavioral biology that compares genomic data to behavioral phenotype. Of particular interest are differential gene expression of mRNA (transcriptomics) and protein transcription (proteomics) that correspond to changes in behavior. Data of this sort is especially useful when comparing the genomic qualities of organisms with varying degrees of social organization.

While sociogenomics integrates more fields of study and is more encompassing than classical genetics, the methodology is still considered forward genetics. The goal is to determine genes or sets of genes and their artifacts that contribute to the expression of a phenotype.

Sociogenomic methodology has been applied to understanding the biology of eusociality include its cellular origin, caste determination in a eusocial hierarchy, and the mechanisms that mediate division of labor. Efforts in genome sequencing have allowed researchers to examine eusocial insect behavior from a molecular perspective.

Notable progress in this field was made by the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium, led by Gene E. Robinson, which published and made public a completed honey bee (Apis mellifera) genome in October 2006. Completion of the honey bee genome and other model organism genomes has made further between-species sociogenomic comparisons possible.

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