10/6/2015 Getting Down to Business | The Scientist Magazine

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TheScientist Magazine Notebook

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ANDRZEJKRAUZE

Getting Down to BusinessIsthereageneticcomponenttoentrepreneurialsuccess?

ByKerryGrens|April1,2014

cottShane,aneconomistatCaseWesternReserveUniversitywhohasbeenteaching

entrepreneurshipfor20years,hashearditallwhenitcomestohisundergraduatespitchingideasfornewbusinesses.Somestudentsputinextensivetimeandresearchtocomeupwithabusinessproposalthatflopswhentheytrytoexpressitasaconvincingpitch.Othersputinnoeffortandwingitafterglancingoversomeinformation,butcomeupwithamarvelousproposal.Itslikeanintuitivesense,Shanesays,liketheycouldseewhatthemarketplacewouldwant.

InShanesfield,businessphenomswhosoeffortlesslyproduceinnovativeideasandsucceedatstartingbusinessesareoftenreferredtoasbornentrepreneurs.Foryears,Shanesbeeninterestedinwhethersciencecouldcorroboratesuchageneticendowment.Soin2008,heturnedtoaUKregistryofseveralthousandtwinstofindout.Lookingateightmeasuresrelatedtoentrepreneurship,suchasthenumberofyearsselfemployedandthenumberofbusinessesowned,Shanecalculatedthatentrepreneurshipwasbetween30and55percentheritable(ManagementScience,54:16779,2008).Thatsnottrivial,hesays.

Ayearlater,ZhenZhang,nowamanagementprofessoratArizonaStateUniversity,followedupwithanothertwinstudy,butaddedatwist.Zhang

lookedatthesexoftheparticipantsfromadifferenttwinregistryandfoundthat,formen,geneticshadnothingtodowiththeirbecominganentrepreneur.Forwomen,ontheotherhand,startingabusinesswas65percentheritable(OrganizationalBehaviorandHumanDecisionProcesses,110:93107,2009).Zhanginterpretsthefindingsashavingtodowiththeextrahurdleswomenfaceinbusiness.Amongwomen,hespeculates,onlythosepeoplewhoarereallydetermined,whohavethatgeneticmakeup[totheiradvantage],emergeasentrepreneursbecauseofthehardshipintheenvironment.Formen,thesocialsupportsinthebusinesscommunitymighthelpovercomeanygeneticdisadvantage,Zhang

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Juanlin Yip

10/6/2015 Getting Down to Business | The Scientist Magazine

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ScottShane,CaseWesternReserveUniversity

Its like an intuitive senselike they could see what themarketplace would want.

You

reasons.

Sowhatgenesmightbeatplayininfluencingbusinessacumen?Shaneandothershaveturnedtogenomewideassociationstudies(GWAS)tohuntforsinglenucleotidepolymorphisms(SNPs)thatmightbeinvolved.HisgroupandanotherheadedbyRoyThurik,anentrepreneurshipresearcherattheErasmusSchoolofEconomicsinRotterdam,Netherlands,showedthatthegenes,notsurprisingly,aredifficulttopinpoint.IntwoseparateGWASstudies,thegroupsidentifiedanumberofpromisingSNPs,noneofwhich,consideredinisolation,amountedtomorethan1percentofthevariance(InternationalJournalofDevelopmentalScience,6:12735,2012PLOSONE,8:e60542,2013).

Shanehasalsotakenadifferenttack,diggingintothepsychologyofentrepreneurs.Studieshaveshownthatentrepreneursareknowntohaveahigherlikelihoodforcertaintraits,suchasthrillseekingorextroversion.Someresearchershavesuggestedthatthrillseekershavedopaminetransportersandreceptorsthatmakethefeelgoodneurotransmitterlessavailable,Shaneexplains,therebydrivingthemtoseekoutextremestimulitogetarush.Perhapsdopaminecouldexplaintheattractiontothehighstakesworldofstartups.

In2011,inastudyofmorethan1,300twins,Shaneandhiscolleaguesfoundevidenceforapolymorphisminadopaminereceptorgeneasocalledcandidategenethatwasassociatedwithentrepreneurshipandcouldexplain0.5percentofthelikelihoodofbecominganentrepreneur(SmallBusinessEconomics,36:15155,2011).Thisisatinyamountofevidence...butitsthefirstevidenceofaspecificgene,Shanesays.

Theresultssuggestthatourbiologymightcontributetoadecisionasimportantandcomplexascareerchoice.Butthecandidategeneapproach,whichanalyzesgenesalreadythoughttobeinvolvedinaparticulartrait,asopposedtotheunbiasedapproachofGWAS,isoutdatedandunreliable,saysThurik.HebelievesthatGWAScouldofferanswers,iftherightphenotypeismeasuredandtherightdataareused.

Toestablishsomethingofanysignificanceyouneedanimmensedataset,saysThurik,addingthatnodatasetscurrentlycontaintherightscaleandmeasurementstoproperlylookforgenesinvolvedinstartingbusinesses.ThurikconcedesthathisownGWASstudyalsomeasuredthewrongoutcome,entrepreneurship,andinsteadshouldmeasuretheunderlyingpsychologythatdrivespeopletostartabusiness.Thatbeingsaid,withthewrongmeasureandthewrongphenotype,wecamesoclosetoidentifyingcandidategenes.

ThurikhasshownthatitispossiblethroughGWAStogetdowntothegeneticsofcomplexbehaviorsortraits.Lastyear,heandhiscolleaguesidentifiedSNPsassociatedwitheducationalattainment(Science,340:146771,2013).Whiletheresultsdontpointtoaneducationgene,theydemonstratetheutilityofGWASinsuchapplications.Thisisjustopeningadoorwithnopracticalimplication,andthisnowshouldconvincescientistsorpeoplewhofinance[suchresearch]todoitbetter.

Tagssinglenucleotidepolymorphism,genomewideassociationstudy,genetics&genomicsandentrepreneurs

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