魔術の起源：遺伝的および後成的影響について

文献的調査によって、マグル、魔法使いおよびスクイブの魔術能力と家系を調べ、魔法能力と特定の魔術技能における遺伝的および後天的影響について調べた研究。非常に興味深い。

方法の記述の冒頭には

Methods aAnd results
We used the Harry Potter novels by J K Rowling^5-11 as original source material to identify characters from the magical and non-magical world―namely, muggles, witches, wizards, and squibs (see glossary)―their magical abilities, and familial relationships. To avoid factual errors, different members of the team carried out repeated readings of the novels and listened to unabridged audio productions of the books.

とあり、事実誤認を防ぐために異なった研究員が繰り返し文献（もしくは要約版ではない音声化したもの）に当たったことが触れられ、その真摯さがうかがえる。

余談であるが私はまだ文献7(本論文引用文献5)を途中までしか読んでおらず、このような姿勢ではいけないと痛感した。

結果としては、魔法能力は遺伝的であり、蛇と話す、未来予知、髪の毛の色を変えるといった特定の魔術技能については全て遺伝的であるように思えるとのことであった。

なお、原著論文はBMJサイトより無料で入手可能。

要旨を以下に転載。

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 familial aggregation and concordance in twins. Evidence suggests magical ability to be a quantitative trait. Specific magical skills, notably being able to speak to snakes, predict the future, and change hair colour, all seem heritable.
Conclusions A multilocus model with a dominant gene for magic might exist, controlled epistatically by one or more loci, possibly recessive in nature. Magical enhancers regulating gene expression may be involved, combined with mutations at specific genes implicated in speech and hair colour such as FOXP2 and MCR1.