According to new research, children inherit their intelligence from their mother not their father. Genes for cleverness are carried on the X chromosome and may be deactivated if they come from the father. A mother’s genetics determines how clever her children are, and the father makes no difference.

A category of genes known as “conditioned genes” are thought to work only if they come from the mother in some cases and the father in other cases. Intelligence is believed to be among the conditioned genes that have to come from the mother. Laboratory studies using genetically modified mice found that those with an extra dose of maternal genes developed bigger heads and brains, but had little bodies. Those with an extra dose of paternal genes had small brains and larger bodies.

Researchers identified cells that contained only maternal or paternal genes in six different parts of the mouse brains which controlled different cognitive functions, from eating habits to memory. Cells with paternal genes accumulated in parts of the limbic system, which is involved in functions such as sex, food and aggression. But researchers did not find any paternal cells in the cerebral cortex, which is where the most advanced cognitive functions take place, such as reasoning, thought, language and planning. (The Independent)

If this is true and is confirmed by further research into actual people (rather than mice), then the lesson to be taken away is clear: men should procreate only with more-intelligent-than-usual women. This is a challenge because presumably intelligence is distributed in the female gender in something approaching a bell curve. The number of highly intelligent women is, of course, limited, and they may not be good-looking or have other attractive traits either. An Epicurean approach to this dilemma is to seek a loving, caring partner with whom you can have a mutually rewarding relationship – and, with a sigh – put up with the stupid children.