Muddying up even that potentially clear picture, though, is the influence of environment on the ultimate outcome of having any gene variant.

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Thinking of contingency plans rather than blueprints, in my opinion, makes it easier to add the influence of environment into the understanding of gene expression.

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Traditional methods of estimating the influence of genes and the environment on intelligence have largely been limited to comparisons between people who are related, such as identical or fraternal twins.

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The principles of Feng Shui got me thinking about what influence the placement of things and objects in an advertising environment can affect the impact and outcome of a marketing campaign.

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For example, work in the field of epigenetics demonstrates that environment can have a profound influence on how DNA impacts biology.

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Locally, parents can work to massage the culture of a school, and in the city's school-choice environment, they can have more of an ultimate influence on their child's education than in many other cities.

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As an important LP (and a rare one with lots of cash to put to work), a Pharma can also influence the nature of the deals done by the fund, and can shape the macro venture fundraising environment by only investing in funds that will do early stage innovation vs later stage incremental assets.

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So, yes, it became a big influence on town planning and the American imagination of what it's like to live in a small environment.

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"It looks like an extremely cheap attempt by ExxonMobil to buy a shield from criticism, " said Peter Altman, national coordinator of Campaign ExxonMobil, a US shareholder group trying to influence the company's positions on the environment.

BBC: Sky,