The application of neurogenomics to education: analyzing guiding visions

The field of neurogenomics, which studies the role of genomics in the development and function of the nervous system, is considered by many scholars to have the potential to contribute to learning and education. In order to gain more insights into the opportunities and concerns associated with this potential, this paper explores scientists' guiding visions for this domain. In addition to an exploration of relevant literature, one focus group and six interviews were conducted with neurogenomics scientists, with the results showing that scientists working in different areas of neurogenomics formulate diverse guiding visions and that most guiding visions are clinically oriented. We demonstrate how these guiding visions originate from scientists' disciplinary background, empirical practice, overarching theories and moral appreciations, giving rise to conflicting understandings of key concepts such as “phenotype”, “intelligence” and “environment”. This variance indicates that more interdisciplinary communication and cooperation is needed before steps are made in the direction of education.