Decision to have children later in life could be due to genes

Researches looked at information of over 100,000 people through eight decades and discovered the higher the learning, the older the mother. (KGO-TV)

ABCNews

by Timothy Johnson, M.D.

Monday, January 16, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO --

Are you having children later in life? If so, the reason may lie in your DNA.

Our genetic code determines more than our eye color and height as it also includes our ability to acquire information to learn.

New research looks at the genes that seem to be involved in educational achievement and there may be a connection to having fewer babies at a later age.

Researches looked at information of over 100,000 people through eight decades and discovered the higher the learning, the older the mother. So, if easier learning is somehow genetically linked to having fewer children, could we as a species be losing more smart folks? In other words losing small amounts of human IQ every passing year, ultimately decreasing our reasoning power over time.

Fortunately, our intelligence is determined by much more than just our genetics - environment plays a huge role in shaping our minds.

So, don't worry that fewer, later children are hurting the human race. For one thing, researchers point to the Flynn effect, which is the idea that improvement in our economic and social circumstances and the help of technology, have together increased our population's intelligence.

Luckily, the very DNA that decides how smart we are seems to have made up for any genetic losses in human IQ.