In 1983 Eddie Murphy starred in a film titled, Trading Places. It also starred Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis. The premise of the film is based on nature vs. nurture. Can a low-life scammer (Murphy) become an upstanding (albeit slightly snobbish) contributor to society. The stars were at their peek and Ms. Curtis who portrayed a lady of the evening, was at her nubile best. Two wealthy brothers with time on their hands make a wager about genetics, one says regardless of genetics, it is environment that makes a person who he is, the other brother disagrees. The wager is made ($1?) and Murphy and Aykroyd (Spoiled Wall Street financier) is left to fend for himself while Murphy takes over his house and his job.  A very funny film. This is a great time to watch it again. While this is not a Christmas film the action takes place at this time. The Dan Aykroyd Christmas party scene is a hoot. 

The more scientists discover about genetics, the more it seems our DNA charts our destiny.

And yet . . .when psychology professor and researcher Darlene Francis was a graduate student, she took time off to connect with the “real world” as a social worker. She saw cases where young children seemed on the road to disaster and wondered whether there was any opportunity to effect change for these kids. Was their potential locked into their genetic makeup at birth?
 
Francis returned to the lab with a renewed interest in helping people. She began a pioneering study with mice. She used two strains of mice bred to be either “nervous” or “calm,” with each strain genetically identical. Francis and her team transferred the embryos of low-stress mice to female surrogates of the nervous variety. For comparison purposes, the researchers also transferred embryos to surrogate females of the calm strain. At birth, the pups were shuffled once again and raised by either a nervous mom or a calm mom.

The findings shed new light on genetics. The calm mice raised by nervous mothers—even those that were born to calm surrogate mothers and then raised by anxious ones—became anxious themselves and cognitively challenged. Ever afraid of new things and new experiences, their stress levels were high and their learning capabilities were limited. What’s more, they remained this way through adulthood.

Though the environment didn’t change the genes of the calm mice, it did alter how the genes worked. Environment regulates the expression of the genes—determining which get activated and which don’t. And this regulation is inherited by the next generation of mice, indicating that environment has far-reaching long-term consequences in families.

Child development specialists are encouraged by Francis’s research. Having scientific evidence now to support their long-held belief on the subject, specialists hope that a change in environment can help at-risk children overcome some cognitive and psychosocial impediments. 

http://psychology.berkeley.edu/faculty/profiles/dfrancis.html