Mitochondrial DNA marker EST00083 is not associated with high vs. average IQ in a German sample

In a recent report in this journal (Plomin & Petrill, 1997), a mitochondrial DNA marker (EST00083) yielded significant associations with high vs. low IQ in two population-based samples of children in the U.S. The present study tested this allelic association for German adults with high vs. average IQ scores. The high IQ adults (N=47) were members of Mensa, an organization whose membership criterion is an IQ score above 130. Their EST00083 allelic frequencies were compared to the allelic frequencies for a control group of adults (N=77) whose IQ scores were less than 110 as estimated from short-term memory and speed-of information-processing tests. Although the differences between the two studies are considerable, the present results do not provide support for the hypothesis that EST00083 is associated with high IQ.