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“Cheetahs Are Extremely Inbred”: 50 Interesting Genetics Facts You May Have Missed At School
A great part of living in the 21st century is that if you have a device that connects to the internet, you have access to hundreds, if not thousands of experts who are often eager to share in-depth knowledge about the world we live in.
Someone asked “What is a genetics fact that not a lot of people know?” and people detailed their best facts. From the peculiarities of our DNA to interesting new species of plants, get ready to expand your mind as you read through. Be sure to upvote your favorites and comment your thoughts and ideas below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
It's really unfortunate that there are so many people out there that think that it's the mother's fault for not bearing sons. No Gregg, she isn't broken. You're just blasting X's instead of Y's.
the sixthgirl 1 year ago
Equally unfortunate: assigning "blame" over the sex of one's offspring at all, thus perpetuating the biased notion that one has more value than the other.
JB 1 year ago
Is it really "equally unfortunate" when historically, right up until the present moment when genetics is finally understood by an individual, only one sex has been blamed?
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Sue Denham 1 year ago
That, and also that the woman deserves the credit for twins. My husband's colleagues patted him on the back and said "nice shooting!" when that didn't have anything to do with it.
ILoveMySon 1 year ago
I am surprised people don't know this but, hey, we all learn something new every day.
BrownTabby 1 year ago
The inaccuracy adds insult to injury, but at the end of the day it was never about fairness. This kind of accusation comes from the mentality that the wife is supposed to serve her husband.
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Just saying 1 year ago
I grew up with a notion that the father determines what his offsprings will be.
Bewitched One 1 year ago
Because it is true. Women can only contribute the X chromosome, as we only have an X. The additional X/Y chromosome comes from the second half of the dna, which is contributed by the father. Therefore, the only way women make boys is if the father contributes that Y chromosome
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martymcmatrix 1 year ago
I don't care what it's gonna be, as long as he's healthy...🙄...The theme runs through mythology, antiquity and modern times...every king wants a male heir to the throne, oracles usually prophesy good or bad luck through a son or grandson...fratricidal hatred usually prevails, and heroines who are equal to Heracles, Perseus or Theseus do not exist in principle...🤷🏽
Pamela Carter 1 year ago
We seem to have the opposite problem--I had 3 boys but then I had a girl! In March she will have my 4th grandson. I love all of our boys.
FreeTheUnicorn 1 year ago
Wasn't this definitively disproved before airplanes were invented? Do they also think women can't ride on steam trains because their uteruses might fly out?
RELATED:
#2
Perhaps my favourite biology fact is about pharmacogenetics, how your genetics determines the efficacy of drugs on your system due to prevalence of receptors of different types that the drugs target to produce an effect:
"90% of drugs only work on 30-50% of the population."
I find it so truly wild. But most people I've talked to about it seem to agree that some drug or other doesn't work for them. This really highlights how much of a process finding the right drug for a person is.
I had a lecture on this in uni in about 2016 and it said the future of pharmacology is individual genetic screens for drug effectiveness meaning people don't have to keep trying different drugs until they find the one that works, you would be tested then your doctor would have that info.
I just hope it overcomes the pushback from Big Pharma in my lifetime cause it would be a true game-changer.
LB 1 year ago
People with my rare genetic muscular disorder and anesthesia, also. It really sucked because when I had my first pacemaker surgery, the (senior & female) surgeon knew this from experience, but the second time around I got a younger one who didn't really listen to me when I tried to tell him this, so it hurt like a mf.
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Eunice Probert 1 year ago
Drugs tend to be aimed at men, ignoring women, who may have a different reaction.
Biytemii 1 year ago
I actually have one of these kits sitting in my room right now. My psych just sent it over yesterday to see what kinda of meds will work for me and what won't so I don't have to keep going through different ones lol
Bewitched One 1 year ago
It honestly did not help me at all. It says what will likely work, what may work, and what likely wouldn't. I've tried everything in the green and yellow (likely and may) and none work, but interestingly enough, a few of the drugs in the red on my test I have been on for years and have helped tremendously
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Ace 1 year ago (edited)
It's known as "personalised health care" and has been a big deal in pharma for twenty years or more. Basically it's about recognising genetic markers in individuals that will mean that a given treatment will or will not work for that patient. One of the early successes (and I am proud to have played a small part in its development) was a drug called Herceptin which can completely cure breast cancer (if it's found early enough) in people with a specific "genetic expression". For other people it's known that this particular treatment will not work, so other courses of action will be used from the very start of treatment.
Virginie Michaud 1 year ago
Thank you. My mother received a herceptin treatment because she tested HER2 positive. She had a major stroke 4 days after starting her chemo however which has left her permanent disabilities, but she powered through the cancer treatment and 5 months rehab stay. She even fell and had hip surgery through it all. Herceptin has given a chance for my mother to fight this cancer, and she has demonstrated he incredible will to overcome everything she had to endure. And no one is now bankrupt because we live in Québec and she received all of this amazing medical care for free.
Load More Replies... Just saying 1 year ago
I was in the hospital for an infection and the doctor did some kind of testing on my blood to determine which antibiotic would work for me. I love that he took the time instead of just giving me whatever.
Julie Love 1 year ago
He was probably actually testing the germs rather than you: "culture & sensitivity" = "grow them, kill them, see what kills them best"
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Imnotthatpanda 1 year ago
My best friend just had this done. It’s already being implemented, just not the standard yet as it’s still expensive:
Deborah B 1 year ago
There's a lot of genetic matching of chemotherapy in cancer treatment now, it means more targeted chemo and fewer side effects.
Ace 1 year ago
More to be able to avoid chemo by identifying other treatments that may be effective instead. Chemo is basically taking poison that kills your own body cells but hopefully acts more quickly and aggressively towards cancer cells so they will be eradicated first, so is seen as a treatment of last resort; genetic tests allow us to identify individuals that may respond to other treatments, and not to try those treatments on patients who will not be helped by them.
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Upstaged75 1 year ago
It's also why doctors ask if you have a sibling/family member with your same condition and what meds work best for them. My brother and I had nearly identical issues at the same age (I was first) and we ended up on the exact same meds. And yet if you saw us in a room full of people you'd never guess that we're related - we look like we come from completely different families. Genetics are crazy! :)
Julie Love 1 year ago
In psych I ask this more because of the powerful negative placebo effect: taking a med thinking "I wonder if this will make me worse/not help" really undermines its chance. Esp for anxiety meds, no surprise.
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Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
I've of the most deleterious parts of mental illness treatment is how often the meds you try either don't work at all, work a bit but the good is overshadowed by the negative side effects, or make you worse. They take a long time to show clear results one way or another, and then you have to taper off the one that didn't work and increase the size of a new one, starting the timeline for waiting to see if it's effective over again... And then you may fine one that works great for years and then suddenly doesn't! So many people have died because they just couldn't take it anymore, and many others stop trying to get help because they are tired of the pill switching, wild emotional swings while trying different meds, and the general attitude of Doctors and laypeople that says "get help" but completely lacks support or even real acknowledgement of the fact that asking for help doesn't automatically make things better and the process of ultimately GETTING better can get worse and take a time
Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
Having genetic tests to rule out the ones that are going to make you worse and what might give you unacceptable side effects could cut the time spent trying to fight to GET better in half or more!
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Jeremy James 1 year ago
Someone described the process of finding the right medication as, "throwing darts, blindfolded in a darkened room, at a target that may or may not exist."
Ace 1 year ago
Clearly someone who's never actually worked in the the modern pharmaceutical industry.
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There is a gene called TP53 - it’s referred to as the ‘guardian of the genome’ - it is a tumor suppressor gene and prevents cancer of all types. Humans have two copies and if one is broken/mutated it causes an inherited condition called Li Fraumeni. People with this have a very very high risks for cancer, and the condition can be passed down in families. Elephants have 20 copies of TP53 and therefore rarely get cancer. The Li Fraumeni foundation uses the elephant as its mascot and hopefully we can someday figure out how to replace faulty TP53 genes for these families.
Anyone-for-tea? 1 year ago
I wonder if it could also block IL-1 - just went down a PubMed rabbit hole that I don’t understand being a patient and not a medical professional. Anyone smart enough to explain it in simple terms to me please??
Jessica Shookhoff 1 year ago
Ok, biochemist and genetic genealogist here: TP53 is what is called a Transcription Factor. Fancy way of saying it turns genes on or off. It regulates the expression of many, many genes, which means it has a very broad effect across a range of cell types. Although it's not my specific area of expertise, from what I gleaned, the protein made from the gene of TP53 (p53)actually interacts with IL-1, so I don't think it would ever be a direct repressor of IL-1 expression. Even if it did, because p53 has so many effects across many types of cells, it would never just have an effect on IL-1. Think of a large board with a bunch of different colored lights arranged in rows. At the top of this board is a bunch of switches. TP53 is one of these switches and when you flip it up a bunch of lights go on and others go off. If you flip it down a different set of lights go on and a different set of lights go off. Because of the way the switches are wired they can never just affect one light.
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jade s 1 year ago
CRISPR has made huge leaps in researching treatment of faulty genes but has a long way to go in particular finding a suitable vector. Currently most places are using adeno-associated vectors but then if you have antibodies to adenovirus you can't have it. Theres also a high risk of reactions. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Load More Replies... Frank Russell 1 year ago
Glad to see the elephant used as a mascot for something positive (in the U.S. anyway).
Id row 1 year ago
ctrl+c, ctrl+v. Also, what's the point of having a backup if it's not functional? Like riding around with a flat spare tire in the trunk.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
But what if you had no wheels at all? That is how it would be if you had neither functioning or not functioning gene.
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Birgit Sommer 1 year ago
That begs for the question: when are we gonna get to buy more copies?
Anywhere but Here 1 year ago
My family has this. One sibling passed from breast cancer, another got it soon after and got genetic testing done. Both in their thirties. I’m too scared to get the testing done as it’s. 50-50 chance I carry it, which would mean it’s a 50-50 chance I pass it on to my own children.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago (edited)
Even if you are scared of the answer, you should get the test. Imagine losing your children to cancer because you were chicken!
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While it might sound like a cross between dystopian fiction and body horror, some researchers believe that there is a lot of potential to store data and information in our DNA. After all, in one sense, that’s exactly what DNA’s actual function is. That being said, most of us probably don’t want to walk around with our own DNA turned into a sort of USB flash stick when we can literally buy this device in most stores.
Comically, as sci-fi as this idea sounds, it might already be out of date. Research into this topic has found that encoding data into our DNA is not only more costly but less reliable and slower to read than the various means of data storage we already have. So if you really want to get cyberpunk, perhaps get a QR code tattooed or investigate the wonderful world of chipping your palms.
#4
That if you unraveled all of the DNA in your body, and stretched it out in a straight line, you'd be dead.
Marcellus II 1 year ago
It's just an assumption --- has anybody ever tried this? No.
Load More Replies... Id row 1 year ago
Also, that if you explode yourself into individual atoms, you'll be dead. daffy-expl...2a70a5.gif 
Lotekguy 1 year ago
At what point do you die, leaving the task of lining up the rest to others?
My O My 1 year ago
Gotta start at the bottom. Shoulder hight is were others have to take over
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#5
The first crispr-cas treatment for sickle cell has just been approved by the FDA
SadieCat17 (she/her) 1 year ago
I have an unrelated but interesting fact about sickle cell anemia. There's a reason that it's more prevalent in people of african decent and it's really neat. So you need two recessive genes to have sickle cell anemia, so you can be a carrier but not have it. Interestingly enough, the sickle cell anemia gene also gives resistence to malaria, but you only need one set to get this effect. In places like africa with high rates of malaria, it's actually genetically prefereble to be a carrier rather than having homozygous no-sickle-cell-anemia genes. Unfortunately, that means that a bunch of kids end up dying from sickle cell anemia since there's a 25% chance that a baby will have it if two carriers reproduce.
Virginie Michaud 1 year ago
So malaria is celebrating with champagne the crispr treatment, am I right? Isn't it going against millions of years of differential mortality selection? And malaria is spreading wildly with climate change, so it's going to be impacting people in populations that don't have that genetic double-edged sword. Somehow, I feel like this isn't the right solution to the problem. It's a bad good idea...
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Leona 1 year ago
I'm a regular donor! Once I found out my blood type (A+ro) and what it can do to help those with sickle cell, there was no way I couldn't donate!
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 1 year ago
Yes!!! 🥰 Don't have that myself but excited for the folks that do
#6
There’s this thing called ACHOO Syndrome where it’s estimated that 18-35% of people on Earth have a reflex that induces sneezing due to bright light.
Sunflower Moon 1 year ago
Me three! The sun makes me sneeze! Sometimes it's scary when driving if it's ill timed.
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Lisa T 1 year ago
I’m always thought everyone sneezed at the sun. Only found out a few years ago that’s not the case. Only one of my three kids also sneezes at the sun
Upstaged75 1 year ago
Some horses have a condition called photic head shaking syndrome. It's similar to ACHOO syndrome in that it's triggered by sunlight. And it can be stopped or minimized while riding by placing a small net over the end of their nose. Weird right? Here's what the net looks like. net-65bea9...066e4b.jpg 
Ginger Winters 1 year ago
Did you know there's some people who when they're full they sneeze like mad? My husband's one of them-its quite funny
Cindy Lee 1 year ago
It's called Snatiation! I have it too. I sneeze everyday at 1:30 after lunch! LOL
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pineapple87 1 year ago
Yep. My ex-husband flat out refused to believe this was a thing despite witnessing it on a regular basis. I eventually had to go online and read up on it just to show him it isn't just me.
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Torben Møller-Nielsen 1 year ago
Yes. Really annoying when you are driving in your car and get hit by the sun.
#7
Since navel oranges have no seeds, they are all clones of the original mutated fruit discovered by a Brazilian monk a century ago. The billions and billions of navel oranges that have been grown, sold and consumed since are all genetically identical.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
Hopefully what is happening to the Cavendish Banana doesn’t happen to the navel orange.
Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago
Riverside California come visit the parent. I think she's still around the first American naval orange tree
wowbagger 1 year ago
How do we get new navel orange trees? Do they have to be grown from cuttings?
Jo Davies 1 year ago
Yes. It is a process called grafting. Basically, Farmer Brown will take two separate plants and stick and attach them to each other, with one part in the ground.
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Edison Lima 1 year ago
Ah, yes, the Bahia-orange! It was first discovered by a monkey in 1800, growing in the Cabula borough, in the city of Salvador.
Naomie Moore 1 year ago
That is really rather trippy. And a good fun fact aside from the scientific significance.
Giles McArdell 1 year ago
This is true even for allot of fruit that does have seeds, eating apples, for instance, do not breed true from seeds and if you manage to grow a tree from a seed you will likely get "wild" apples which are small and hard. Apple trees we use for the fruit we eat are all grafted (a branch from one tree with good fruit is grafted to root stock of another which is usually more vigorous or disease resistant). Kind of shows up "Johnny appleseed" as the myth it is :)
#8
Having five fingers in each hand is a recessive gene. Polydactyly (having 6 fingers on each hand) is a dominant gene.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
No. There are both dominant and recessive genes for polydactyly, but most of us don't have either type. To have polydactyly as a result of recessive genes requires two copies (one from each parent). To have polydactyly as a result of the dominant gene you only need one copy. Because the dominant gene is very uncommon most of us have the usual number of fingers and toes even though it would only take one copy of the dominant gene to give us extras.
Load More Replies... ofcrjackson 1 year ago
On my dad's side, we tend to have extra fingers, extra toes, and extra wisdom teeth. I had 6 wisdom teeth, and my brother had 8. My uncle was born with extra fingers and toes (without bones), and his son was born with extra fingers and toes (with bones).
AnkleByter 1 year ago
Not necessarily, it would depend on the genes they received. It's not a super common (though also not necessarily rare) occurrence to begin with. I have a nephew with 6 fingers on one hand, none of his children have it. Neither of his parents had extra fingers, nor does his wife.
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#9
Cheetahs are extremely inbred. They had a massive bottleneck about 10,000 years ago and had too little diversity to fully recover.
Louise Stange-Wahl 1 year ago
That is why we have to do anything we can to help them! They are the only feline who has claws like a dog!
Ropre 1 year ago
I love watching all the shows on now about different zoos and what I noticed is that if they hand raise any big cat...except for Cheetahs...they can never handle them after they grow up. With Cheetahs though, they can walk into their habitats without having to worry. Some zoos raise the Cheetah cubs with dogs because the Cheetahs are very timid and scared animals.
David Cumberland 1 year ago
I think it’s how the big cats are raised and looked after. My cousin had a full grown cougar, and he was very affectionate and playful, (the cat, not my cousin). My cousin took great care of his cat. This was back in the early ‘70s and I can’t remember his name. I’ve got several pictures of him playing with my wife and father.
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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
We like their spots. We have gorgeous stripes, but spots are nice, too.
sofacushionfort 1 year ago
No record of a cheetah killing a human being like all other big cats (but they do judge us like the small cats)
Guess Undheit 1 year ago
Not just cheetahs, all cats (from great cats like tigers to ocelots) have the same odd genetic mutation: five toes on the front paws, four on the back. Every other mammal has the same number of front and rear toes.
Keira Pendragon 1 year ago
Also they're like the only species of big cat you can safely be small around, curl up and show them your back. They will apparently generally give cuddles in captivity if you do that. All the other big kitties would take that to mean you're presenting yourself for dinner. Cheetahs (my interpretation anyway), recognize that you're feeling down/anxious etc and come to comfort you cause they get anxiety too.
#10
Your susceptibility to dental cavities. Dental hygiene matters, but genetics plays a huge role, too.
BarkingSpider 1 year ago
It must, because my husband takes better care of his teeth and I eat a lot of candy and he still always has more cavities than me.
Binky Melnik 1 year ago (edited)
I remember reading ages ago that cavities are caused by a virus [that dentists ostensibly don’t want cured because 💰] and that getting cavities has nothing to do with dental hygiene but rather it’s the presence of the virus that determines whether one gets cavities. Was this debunked? I see everyone talking about their dental hygiene and their cavities, so perhaps this turned out not to be true?
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Renegade 1 year ago
Which you tend to get from your mother. Not because of genetics, you mom is just more likely to kiss you the most.
Load More Replies... Louise Stange-Wahl 1 year ago
I had always brushed after eating anything. Still have a mouthful of fillings, and weak teeth.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
You should always wait at least half an hour after eating before brushing. The acids in food weaken the surface of the tooth and make it more fragile.
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AJay 1 year ago
*It also depends on medication you are on*. Please talk to your specialists and dentists about your medications as some can make you more susceptible to cavities. Unfortunately I had to learn this the hard way when I found out I needed two filings at a regular check up. Nothing to do with my brushing or oral hygiene, just my meds.
MrsFettesVette 1 year ago
Breathing medications (inhalers) are particularly bad.
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keyboardtek 1 year ago
A lot of tooth quality has to do with your mother's nutrition during pregnancy.
Leviathan 1 year ago
this happened to my adopted family, they have bad teeth, my sister brushed 2 to 3 times a day {depending on food} since she got teeth, and now has NONE, they all got root canals and were taken out since they broke and were messed up, and have a few porcelain teeth, same with our bro and mom
Sky Render 1 year ago
My bitey bones are shockingly resilient! Not only have I never had any cavities in 42 years (despite the fact that I really should have with my diet in my 20s and 30s), but I used to casually chew inch-thick ice cubes and the worst I suffered was a single blunted canine tooth.
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 1 year ago
Yes!! I have horrible teeth, always have. No matter what I do it's bad
MrsFettesVette 1 year ago
Imagine how worse it could be if you didn't take care of your teeth (this is what I say to my patients like you)
Load More Replies... #11
There's a genetic disease called Laron Syndrome that makes you shorter in stature, a longer life expectancy, and near immunity to cancer and diabetes.
Bookworm 1 year ago
I just looked it up; it's an insensitivity to growth hormone, and it also causes facial deformities, delayed puberty, micropenises in men, and hypoglycemic seizures, among other symptoms.
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Kerry Carolan 1 year ago
It's a type of dwarfism, they absolutely do not have an increased lifespan (although they do have an increased health span) and the risk for cancer and diabetes are slightly lower than thide of their relatives without the syndrome. They also have a ton of other problems like deformities, small genitalia, and an increased risk of obesity.
MontanaMariner 1 year ago
What's it called when you're tall, a family history of bad hearts, and a likelihood of diabetes? Doomed?
Redhead Canadian Panda 1 year ago
My 97-year-old friend (who skis, volunteers, kayaks and hikes) is short.
Cecilia Chavez- Marino 1 year ago
I'm 5'0 I'd love to have this gene so,I wouldn't be diabetic any longer.
Chintan Shah 1 year ago
I think I'll use Laron Syndrome to explain my short height. May as well get some benefit out of this short stature as you so politely put it.
Janet Ryan 1 year ago
It comes with small genitalia, deformity, seizures, and late puberty
Load More Replies... #12
If you see a cat with three colors (black, white, and orange), it's got two x chromosomes.
Cat people tend to know this, but idk about people in general.
Bookworm 1 year ago
Also tortishell. Basically, you can't have black and orange on the same cat unless it has two Xs.
Sleepy 1 year ago
Yes you can! It's very, very rare but male torties exist! They have two X chromosomes as well as a Y chromosome (so XXY). They are typically sterile
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Bookworm 1 year ago (edited)
Those are chromosomal abnormalities, though. They generally have three chromosomes, XXY. Or they're chimeras, as discussed in a different post.
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CF 1 year ago
Closer to 70% of the time, but yes it's a safer bet to go with male if you a ginger cat than female 😺
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S Bow 1 year ago
What about four colors? My tortie has white, black, bright orange and light tan.
Rosemary Booth 1 year ago
That wouldn't be a Tortie then, they don't have any white fur. Your cat sounds like a Calico.
Load More Replies... Tabitha 1 year ago
Male calicos do happen, but are extremely rare. If you find one, you will have a priceless cat.
Happy to be a wallflower 1 year ago
Kind of but they don’t have xy chromosomes they have xxy chromosomes
Load More Replies... #13
The genes that determine the size of your male parts are on the X-chromosome, so you inherited that from your mom.
Freya the Wanderer 1 year ago
Another candidate for the next "Best BP Replies" thread
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Mya 1 year ago (edited)
Nope. That's a myth. Genes for hair loss and baldness are passed down from both sides of the family.
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OhnoI’vebeencensored 1 year ago
Seems unlikely that we know ALL the genes related to the development of any individual piece of anatomy
setsuriseikou 1 year ago
I'd totally agree with you, but, seeing how much money and effort goes into studying everything about male genitals, I would't be surprised if this one fact was true.
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#14
For simplicity, let's say your mother is 50% Chinese & 50% Spanish. That does **not** mean you are 25% of each. On paper it would seem so but you can have any combination of those two equaling to 50%. It's not a clean cut in half. It's a *random* 50% given and 50% not. Although, yes there are dominate genes that can give all the kids a certain nose shape or eye color. Still, you and your siblings might get these DNA combos from mom: - you: 30% C & 20% S - brother: 12% C & 38% S - sister: 5% C & 45% S So if you ever wondered why your sister looks more Spanish than you its because genetics wise she just is more Spanish.
Bottle Opener 1 year ago
My siblings and I are multiracial, all from the same multiracial parents. Yet we each look like different ethnicities from each other.
Jason 1 year ago
I've never had anyone guess mine correctly. I kind of am like a chameleon. People think I am part their race for a bunch of different ones. Was a family secret for years that I didn't even know.
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Jill Rhodry 1 year ago
This is why when siblings take ancestry tests their percentages and stated ethnicities don't match.
Stephanie Barr 1 year ago
My grandmother was half indigenous (Native American). My father was fair with gray eyes and all six of my siblings were blonde and light eyes. And then there was me, dark hair, dark eyes and nearly a twin to his sister.
Tabitha 1 year ago (edited)
Probably also has to do with the history of any country. For a very long time in the past, Spain had a huge population of Moors from North Africa, whom the more fair-skinned Spanish married and had children with. Every country has a history of being conquered by outside enemies, who then proceeded to pillage and, yes, rape, a form of ethnic cleansing. My husband calls himself British, but chances are high he probably has Viking and Roman blood in him, as well as Angle and Saxon. Had he married a British woman (and not me, with my Eastern European background), he could still have had kids who looked more Nordic or Italian than British.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago
The mother of my 2 children was half Japanese and half Caucasian. My kids show this in their eyes. More so for my daughter than my son. I can see that easily but many others can't.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
I have a (white) friend who married an Hispanic guy. 2 of their kids have dark hair and darker skin, while the 3rd is pale and blond. They don't even look related. And this is a strange one, but apparently my mom and I have indistinguishable voices on the phone. You literally cannot tell us apart - not even her sister knows which one of us is speaking. In person you wouldn't even guess she's related to me. We look and sound nothing alike.
Xenia Harley 1 year ago
Um, hate to say this, but just look to dogs with their genetic make up. My collie/poodle/German Shepard (GSD) mix came form someone I know, so know three siblings. Two look like poodle mixes (think doodle) while the other siblings look GSD or collie. My dog looks like a GSD with a collie face. My point is that genetics, which breed is prominent, is obvious!
#15
Super rare, but there’s a condition called superfetation where twins in the womb have different gestation dates. Basically, the woman got pregnant, then a few weeks later she got pregnant again.
Nina 1 year ago
Don't know why you're downvoted, biologically this is possible.
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arthbach 1 year ago
It is believed to be super rare, but its only in the last 30 is years we have been able assess the gestational age of babies in utero. It's also quite recently that we have ready access to genetic testing to determine if such twins have the same father. If we don't test, we don't know.
Jessica Shookhoff 1 year ago
Actually, not that rare. Since fraternal twins results from two separate eggs being released (usually a day or so apart) about 4% of such twins are actually half-siblings!
der sebbl 1 year ago
4% seems way to high for me, where did you get the numbers?
Load More Replies... Jason 1 year ago
I mean, most adults know how they were made but chose not to think about their parents engaging in that process.
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Hiram's Friend 1 year ago
Knew a girl once who had a completely duplicated reproductive system. Led to two periods a month, not necessarily synchronized. Could get pregnant twice a month apart. She said it is a one in one hundred thousand chance.
Renegade 1 year ago
I've seen this happen. B/G twins. Girl was obviously a few weeks behind her brother at birth.
firecrackershrimp 1 year ago
And that usually happens because when youre trying to gestate two fetuses one may not get enough nutrients.
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Apollo 1 year ago
I went to school with a set of superfetation twins. I was friends with one of them she was the older one and has platinum blonde hair with grey eyes. While her twin brother is a brunette with hazel eyes. They have different bio fathers they know this because of DNA testing done when their mom went after her ex for child support... The sister was the ex's kid but not the brother. It was a rather messy ordeal
Birma Gustafsson 1 year ago
"Possibly by a different man" - More possible by THE SAME man. Why go to the most outrageous choice? Why not trust in people's inherent decency? Tell me you're an incel without telling me ....
#16
Hippos are the closest living relative to whales.
Jane Alexander 1 year ago
How are they called Water Horse or River Horse if related to whales?
#17
1. Most genetics studies were, and are still, done on white western populations. Some things that we "know" about genetics turn out to not work so well in non-white or non-western populations. Loose example: diagnostic tests to check for certain diseases sometimes misdiagnose Americans with African ancestry, because sometimes we don't actually know exactly how certain diseases will look in non-European ancestry patients, we just assume it will be the same. 2. Africa, as a whole, is the most genetically diverse continent for human genetics. Humans outside of Africa went through a population bottleneck, resulting in an overall lack of diversity moving forward. The human blender of genetics in Europe just didn't have many starting ingredients. There are things called linkage disequilibrium maps, which basically map out sections of the genome that are usually found inherited together. In Europe, these maps are quite "chunky", with large identifiable sections that are sort of reliably found intact. But in Africa, the blender was always running and never had a bottleneck, so those maps are basically a much finer puree, with a lot more mixing. This presents certain challenges, as many studies rely on those maps to make predictions, and it's harder to do that when the map for Africa as a whole is basically way more complex. 3. Everyone's cancer is its own unique genetic disease. There is no one true single disease called "lung cancer", just as there is no one single true human genome. Everyone is genetically unique (yes even identical twins), and every cancer is unique. 4. Chromothripsis is a thing where a chromosome pretty much shatters and gets stuck back together all out of order. And... this is sometimes okay. There are cases of people who have chromosomes that have undergone chromothripsis, and they have mild to moderate symptoms, but they're not dead, which is miraculous. 5. Remember in biology class when you learn about mitosis? And there's that step called metaphase where all the chromosomes line up in a line before being separated into two new cells? That spot in the middle of the "X"-shaped chromosomes where the spindles attach to line them up is called the centromere. And it's sort of mysterious black hole of genetics. There aren't usually any genes there, just a chaotic cluster-f**k of repetitive sequence that gets chopped forwards, backwards, repeated 7 times, swapped around and repeated again, etc etc in an area that's hundreds of thousands of nucleotides long. But what's even crazier is that we don't really know *why* they are how or where they are, because *you don't need the wacky wasteland of repeats for them to work*. Almost all centromeres in all animals look like this, but there are exceptions. A very notable exception is that very very rarely in humans, a "mar-del" chromosome can form where a chromosome accidentally loops on itself and pinches (think of that heart thing people do with their thumb and forefinger), resulting in a circular chromosome that still has its centromere, and a "butterfly" chromosome that does not. Without a centromere, a chromosome can't be duplicated into daughter cells successfully, and cells can't live without the genes on that butterfly chromosome so this should be lethal if it happens early on in development. But surprise, a centromere can and has spontaneously formed on the butterfly chromosome, making them tiny, viable chromosomes that work pretty much fine! But like I said this is super rare, with only a few recorded cases ever. Centromeres in general are very cool and very mysterious. 6. Everything about modern next-generation genetic sequencing is super interesting, yet not well known to the general public. I won't brain dump about it, but if you want to know more, ask and I will!
Kel_how 1 year ago
On the left, right underneath the picture, there's a link you can click on to go to Reddit. The original poster adds more details and answers questions there. 😊
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Guess Undheit 1 year ago
"Most genetics studies were, and are still, done on white western populations." It turns out many studies and drug tests deliberately screen out left handedness, not just gender or skin colour. [...] A major study on left handedness in 2020 was deliberately done only in Europe, though NOT to exclude non-white people. It was done there because many countries across Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe STILL abuse left handed kids, forcing them to switch hands. By studying only Europe (where such attitudes are all but gone), the percentage found - 10.5% - is likely the most naturally occurring.
Philip Rutter 1 year ago
Thank you thank you! This person is NOT a blithering blatherer- they ACTUALLY know whereof they speak!! Blessings.
#18
not everyone may know is that your genes play a role in determining whether you are more likely to be a morning person or a night owl
Annika Kremer 1 year ago
I wished more people knew about this. Chronotype absolutely is genetic. Please stop branding night owls as undisciplined and lazy, we were born this way. In fact, we often have to work harder because important stuff tends to happen outside of our comfortable and high-performance time slots.
Bookworm 1 year ago
I saw a recent study that concluded we probably picked those genes up from the Neanderthals when we moved into Europe. It seems to have been an advantage to have a more flexible circadian rhythm when living at higher latitudes, where the length of days changes drastically with the seasons.
I heart Boo-BI-es 1 year ago
My mom has a theory, so I was born extremely premature and I hate to be late and am usually early to everything, my younger sister was born a week or 2 late and she's constant late to everything. Now my youngest sister was born right on her due date and she's usually right on the minute that she needs to be somewhere. It's kinda interesting but I'm sure it just happened to work out this way with my sisters and I.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
I'm the only night owl in my family. My mom says I'm part vampire since I never leave the house before dark. ;)
3 Otters 🦦 1 year ago
Also it will tell you if you have the traits of athletes or if like me “you do not have these traits” “you do not have the genetic make up to run any distance but are geared to sprinting”. So take that HS PE teacher. I was never getting anything but a C. Run 2 miles my tukuss.
#19
If you set aside ethics and set out to do it, it would only take 33 generations to create a human being who was the descendant of everyone currently alive and able to have children.
Also, pedigree collapse: no living person has as many unique ancestors as they mathematically should. Every person has, biologically, 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, etc, doubling every generation. 30 generations back without any degree of inbreeding would require over a billion unique 28x great grandparents, more than the entire world population for 1100 AD. Every single human's family tree is full of people marrying and having children with cousins of some genetically-unimportant degree over the last thousand years.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
I found the same people in my ancestry twice. To be fair, they were in the Cape (south Africa) and the population wasn't huge. They were second cousins.
rullyman 1 year ago
Even in areas where the population was huge, you'll find cousin marriages. The Victorians in England were notorious for it, especially in the middle and upper classes as it helped to keep wealth in the same hands.
Load More Replies... Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 1 year ago
I have a whopping knot in my family tree. My great grand parents were first cousins .... of identical twins. Genetically, they were like half siblings. There is zero chance I'm going to check with ancestry.com or any like company. I don't need any more surprises.
Auntriarch 1 year ago (edited)
Nowt to do with genetics, but your name always makes me smile
Load More Replies... Hey! 1 year ago
I have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, but only 6 great-grandparents. My late parents were first cousins and my two grandmothers were sisters.
Judes 1 year ago
Same, although in my case my grandfathers were brothers. It's not the big deal that some people make it out to be---unless it happens multiple times in your family tree, or your family carries a serious genetic disease.
Load More Replies... Jill Rhodry 1 year ago
I don't doubt the premise of inbreeding in most, if not all, family trees. However, 'Every person has...require a billion unique 28x ggparents' - the math on this would be interesting to see how siblings - how many through time and culture - was determined.
jade s 1 year ago
Just out of curiosity though. Wouldn't you need to divide that by a sibling factor based on the average number of siblings globally. This calculation is based on everyone having unique individual heritage but my 2 brothers have the same parents, grandparents, great grand parent etc
Load More Replies... ofcrjackson 1 year ago
Years after my g-gma died, my g-gpa remarried... his second cousin. Appalachia (Tennessee region) back in the day was low in population, so, ya know. Also, g-gpa was 44 and new wife was 14. Nobody saw a problem with it then, and that side of my family doesn't even think twice about it. That being said, I finally met wife number 2 when she was in her 60's and she was just the sweetest person ever.
Russell Tilling 1 year ago
Inbreeding isn't great statistically, but it is unlikely to produce any problems with offspring in the short term.
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
I'm 95% Celtic, an island. I pretty much surmised my ancestors didn't travel great distances to have a roll in the hay.
#20
Your hair shape changes with hormones
Ria C. 1 year ago
Young straight, perimenopause curly, post straight again with occasional (humidity inspired) waves.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
LOL, I too am a victim of humidity hair. It's like that episode of Friends when they go to the Caribbean and Monica's hair goes crazy. :) Mine's not that extreme, but it annoys the hell out of me.
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Astro 1 year ago (edited)
Here’s another one - thick hair has nothing to do with how thick your hair strands are! I have very thick, baby-fine hair. Girls with thin coarse hair have sometimes told me I have “thin” hair (and claim they have thick hair), but they misunderstand what these terms mean. I have TONS OF HAIR but it’s all thin soft baby threads. This means I have thick, fine hair. Having hair that has very thick strands but not many hair follicles means you have coarse, thin hair. Thick hair strands with tons of hair is coarse, thick hair. And then there’s everything in between 😊 thick means numbers of hairs, not thickness of hair strands. Thick hair strands is called “coarse,” not “thick.” The concept of “thick vs thin hair” has to do with how many hair follicles you have.
Crybabyartist 1 year ago
I also have very thick, baby-fine hair. I never got my adult hair.
Load More Replies... BarkingSpider 1 year ago
Saw someone's hair that completely changed color and texture post chemo, pretty crazy.
Lesbiancats 1 year ago
chemo curls! my sisters hair used to be pale blonde, straight as a stick. Now its super curly and a dark brown
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Rayne OfSalt 1 year ago
Huh, is that why my hair has gotten thicker and more bouncy since I started HRT?
sadmrguna 1 year ago
Yes! My hair was always spaghetti- straight, but after I had my son, it's now quite wavy! It also seems thicker/coarser. Weird.
CaliPanda 1 year ago
Same here. As a kid, I always wanted wavy hair. Now I have it and wish it was straight again.
Load More Replies... Krystal Chranda Lear 1 year ago
Straight pre-menopause. Full of cow-licks perimenopause, and now wavy!
Aballi 1 year ago
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (low thyroid levels) a few years ago, and I've lost more than half of my already fine and thin hair. It's a huge bummer.
Gingy 1 year ago
Get your vitamin D blood level checked! My mom grew so thick, gorgeous hair back after receiving high dosage (20000 units once a week) and she was already 78years old with very thin hair. She had an Alzheimer's diagnosis. For years she had brittle finger nails, they grew back beautifullly. She really enjoyed having long nails again!:) Felt pretty and It was heartwarmjng to see that that made her happy.
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Earthquake903 1 year ago
Can confirm. I am menopausal and I've noticed my hair has curls I never had without a perm before.
FloralDangerNoodle 1 year ago
Same here, it's the weirdest thing! It kinda freaked me out, so I told my mom, and she said the same thing happened to her!
Load More Replies... Cydney Golden 1 year ago
Oh yeah! Pre child birth, then after birth, then after menopause...3 completely different hair textures.
#21
Depression can be genetic.
A. Starhawk Hunt 1 year ago
That’s terror and anxiety. Depression is usually your parents…
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Rachel 1 year ago
Yep. On my mother’s side tons of people have/had some going back generations. I wish they’d have had access to the meds we have now. Sertraline is my best friend.
Load More Replies... Astro 1 year ago
Yep! My grandma and mother struggled with depression a lot, and so do my sister and I.
Carla Phillips 1 year ago
Just ask anyone on my mother's side of the family, ah s I'd venture to say not just depression, but all mental illness.
Cecilia Bragg 1 year ago
Try telling my sister that!. She told me to my face my son struggles "because I talk about my depression!" So I gave him vocabulary and that made him, what,, pretend 😐 🤔 🤯😒
Brett Michaelson 1 year ago
Very true, it is the worst thing I have inherited from my father. Chronic depression
Colleen Glim 1 year ago
My father was bipolar. I have struggled with depression my entire life. My daughters also have anxiety/depression issues
Melody 1 year ago
I’m skeptical, tbh… I knew a guy who insisted that his childhood was great and had absolutely nothing to do with his depression that he claimed he’d just inherited from his mother. But he told me what his childhood was like and it was AWFUL. He was very obviously being neglected, and he just couldn’t see it because it all seems normal to him. I think a lot of people just have childhood trauma that they aren’t aware of.
readingthequibbler 1 year ago
That can be the case in a lot of situations, but I believe both ways can be true. I have gotten adhd from my dad's side and depression from my mom's side. There's a whole record going back to my great great grandma of things that we now understand as depression and other mental illnesses. It definitely can be passed down. My cousin even inherited being bipolar from her father.
Load More Replies... #22
Two brown eyed parents can have a blue eyed child.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
Two blue eyed parents can have a brown eyed child IF one of them has a working HERC-2 gene. (I researched this for a Star Trek TNG fanfic I was writing.)
TFH 1 year ago
Holy s**t that's the nerdiest thing I've ever read. I love it.
Load More Replies... 3 Otters 🦦 1 year ago
Green is the rarest of all. What is beautiful are all the shades of green, blue and brown. Add to that the genes that give some spots of color or two colors and you realize people are gorgeous and fascinating.
A. Starhawk Hunt 1 year ago
Odd bird in my family, I had ash-red hair, green eyes, and slightly sallow pale skin. The rest of my family is Western Europe blonde and blue eyes. I have ancestors who my family all called “Prussian”, but, essentially, Eastern European. The Magyars conquered them. The Magyar were of Asian descent mostly, but they could have red hair. So, no other family members, at least to first cousins, have my coloring. Out of about about 100, I’m the only one with the red hair, slanted green eyes, and slightly yellow skin of my Magyar heritage. Genetics.
Verena 1 year ago
A Danish colleague has five children, four of them blond with blue eyes. One has dark hair and eyes and a slightly darker skin. Why? Becazse in ancient history some Portugese sailors got stranded on a little Danish island and not all of them returned, some stayed because of being good fishermen, too, and married the blond, blue-eyed girls there. The Portugese genes still pop up sometimes, sometimes skipping a generation within a family.
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Mysteria 1 year ago
Talked a bit about this in science class last year. We used Punnet squares. For simplicity, we’d say B is brown eyes and b is blue eyes. If you have two parents with the gene Bb, that means it’s a 25% chance of having a kid with blue eyes. If one is BB and the other is Bb, there’s no chance. But if one is bb and the other is Bb, that’s a 50% chance. Then obviously, bb and bb will always give blue eyed offspring.
Renegade 1 year ago
It's really fascinating. Both my grandmothers had blue eyes. My dad's dad has hazel eyes as does my dad. My mom's dad has brown eyes as does she and I have light brown eyes. My husband's dad had hazel eyes and his mom had blue eyes. One of our kids has hazel eyes and the other two have brown eyes.my sons wife and her parents all have blue eyes. My first grandson has hazel eyes. The second grand might be blue eyed, it's still too early to tell.
Load More Replies... Fynnik 1 year ago
I have central heterochromia in my eyes. I have grey/green eyes with a clear and distinct orange central ring around the iris. I don’t actually know if it’s rare or not because it’s not really been looked at. I also have heterochromia in my hair and eyebrows, I know that’s rare but it does run in the family. I have red hair with a patch of white blond over my right eye, and my right eyebrow is also blond.
Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
While manning a checkpoint in Iraq we stopped a family & took their identical twin daughters away from them. No way these belong to you. They were adorable. Blonde hair, big blue eyes, lily white skin, & wearing matching sailor outfits. What an odd sight in the midst of a war. The parents & fraternal grandmother all just laughed. Grandma pulled records & photos out her bag. Seems like both the mom & dad of the twins had English great-grandfathers. They were a wonderful family in a terrible place & time. We also met Iraqis who has German great-grandfathers as well.
MezzoPiano 1 year ago (edited)
Happened to me! Both my parents were brown-eyed. Both my grandfathers were blue-eyed. I am blue-eyed.
Debi van Duin 1 year ago
Same in my family - out of 5 of us (4 boys 1 girl) all drk brown hair and eyes except the third child who is blond and blue eyed.
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#23
When you’re pregnant, bits of DNA from your baby invade your body and settle all over permanently - including in your brain. Researches found this by looking for male DNA in the brains of deceased 70 year olds. Interestingly, mouse studies have also shown that fetal cells within the mother have restorative properties and will rush to places like the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver if it’s injured and can even become cells that begin beating. One of the theories I have seen but I don’t know if anyone knows for certain if this is true is that these cells enter our bodies so a ‘host’ is less likely to reject the parasite baby.
OhnoI’vebeencensored 1 year ago
“Parasite baby” 🤣 they don’t stop being parasites as they grow up either!
Restless panda 🇫🇮 1 year ago
If you have an abortion or miscarry, those fetal cells still stay in your brain.
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OpheliaPoe 1 year ago
I wonder if this is why sometimes people who go through infertility but then do IVF seem more likely to get pregnant after they have successfully gone through a pregnancy. I did IVF and haven't been one of those people with that good fortune, I just have one child. BUT I have wondered if the reason IVF worked for me was because at 5 days old the embryo had many more cells and was therefore stronger while any previous fertilized eggs were killed by my body when dividing and they couldn't survive. Something like strength in numbers is why I can't get pregnant on my own but IVF worked for me. Anyway, it's one of a few theories I've come up with because no doctor could ever find a specific cause for my infertility.
MR 1 year ago
Makes me wonder if a lot if PPD and other psychological and/or hormal issues related to pregnancy/birth is due to how successful this invasion is.
Madster 1 year ago
That's why I can't have a baby that isn't rhesus negative like me unless I have the anti D jab.
Madster 1 year ago
Although feel free to correct me - I'm not sure that this is an example of what OP is saying.
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v 1 year ago
If there is a fixative aspect in play could it possibly be a dual benefit? Helping to keep the host healthy while also fooling its immune system?
My O My 1 year ago
That's what I've read. There it was mentioned that if the mom to be has e.g. a small heart attack during pregnancy the babies cells rush to help keep mom alive
Load More Replies... Happy to be a wallflower 1 year ago
I mean, it makes sense because the cells in a fetus are already prepped to take on different roles (when the baby grows, the cells have to change function and become stem cells, muscle, tissue, etc).
Rebecca R 1 year ago
The dead people weren’t males, they were looking for male DNA
Load More Replies... Just saying 1 year ago
I have Multiple Sclerosis and was told that during pregnancy I won't have any symptoms.
Astro 1 year ago (edited)
Exactly, stem cells :) incredibly interesting little things
Load More Replies... #24
Birthing identical twins is not an inherited trait. It’s random. Fraternal twinning is inherited, but only from mother to daughter. My MIL ‘took credit’ for me having identical twins because she had fraternal twin siblings. When I explained that genetics proved her wrong she was not having it!! 🤣
tiffhoepp 1 year ago
No, she was implying the twins got her (MIL) genetics from her son (Husband.)
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Patsy Robins 1 year ago
The gene that causes double ovulation & therefore fraternal twins, is actually passed down by men as well - but because they don’t ovulate it doesn’t affect their own pregnancies. They have no higher chance of getting their partner pregnant with twins than anybody else. But they can pass it down to their children - so their daughters have a higher chance of twinning. If they have sons, they can inherit the gene and pass it on their daughters. Which is why fraternal twins are often passed down the male line, but skip a generation. ie, your mother in law has twins, you marry her son & don’t have twins, but your daughter does.
pineapple87 1 year ago
Actually you have it reversed, identical twins are genetic (though can happen spontaneously), fraternal twins aren't. However, the father's genes play no role in either, only the mother's because identical twins are a case of a single fertilized egg splitting, fraternal twins (or triplets etc) are a result of two or more eggs being released at once, which is increasingly common the older you get. My ex-husband was a twin and everyone kept telling me that we might also have twins, so I researched it.
Rebecca McManus 1 year ago
I lived in a small village village outside Cambridge when my daughter was born, when she started school there were 4 sets of triplets and, I think, 7 sets of twins. I dodged a bullet there
Daphne Dykeman 1 year ago
My daughter has fraternal twins, just like her paternal grandfather. No twins in my side at all.
#25
Gastrointestinal issues can be passed on by parents. They run in your jeans
Krystal Chranda Lear 1 year ago
Me too! My mother passed hers onto me. And, yes, it runs your life! Ruins it too!
#26
Potatoes have more chromosomes than humans.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago
And one of them, her name is Nadine, too...
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#27
People with moles live longer. Something to do with telomeres.
Krystal Chranda Lear 1 year ago
Ha—ha! I say that as my telomeres are crumbling away because due to my lack of moles to anchor them!
Load More Replies... Upstaged75 1 year ago
Wow, I guess I'm going to live forever! :) I've got hundreds. Interestingly enough, my brother is completely covered in freckles but doesn't have any moles. I have both, but he definitely got the lion's share of the freckles. And the red hair - I was always jealous of that.
Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
People with NORMAL, birthmark miles live longer. People with moles and skin discoloration that appears later on life, is irregular in shape and color, is larger than a pencil eraser, and has an irregular border probably has skin cancer
Caroline Driver 1 year ago
How many moles, how big, all over or somewhere in particular? This statement is too vague. And I'm waiting for nano tech to fix telomeres, although I'll probably be dead before this happens.
#28
Most of your DNA is just noise that never gets used, and a significant chunk of it contains echoes of ancient and prehistoric viruses that infected your ancestors.
Muhammad Fauzi Rizal 1 year ago
just because we don't know the function of something, does not mean it is useless 😌
Bookworm 1 year ago
True, but they can usually tell when a chunk of DNA is actually functioning, and what this post is talking about is 'junk DNA' that has mutated in such a way as to prevent it from making any proteins, or in the case of the leftover viral DNA, was never functional in the human genome to start with. You're right that it might still serve a purpose though; as far as I know, science still isn't sure one way or the other.
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jade s 1 year ago
Maybe they are developmental blueprints that tell the cells what to do and we don't need any more once we are mostly formed. Developmental anatomy still fascinates me. Like as your growing your bowel comes out of your abdomen before it closes, rotates 3 times and goes back in, and your heart starts as 2 tubes that twist together like a balloon animal and close off at just the right points to form a wall, ducts and valves, and your face is made from 5 finger like things that wrap around your brain stem and join together in just the right way to make your face. Fascinates me that a cell and a chemical process knows how to do this and how to do it for each different species of animal or in almost the same way. There are great animations on YouTube if you are interested.
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
We have a lot of genes whose function is to regulate other genes. So while they aren’t directly expressed, they are not noise or junk, they have a vital role in making sure our other genes work properly.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
Is that what that noise is?? I always thought it was just my tinnitus. :)
Vedette Aecus 1 year ago
No, we just haven't been able to figure put the uses of most DNA ...YET. How'd you like to volunteer to have all that useless "noise" snipped out so we can quickly figure out what its actual function is?
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
A recent paper suggests that our brains explosive increase in capacity was caused by a retrovirus. i.e., We're all mutants! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240215113551.htm
Cloud driver 1 year ago
So.. I guess Corona infections might be incorporated in our DNA as to be remembered by our grandchildren?
#29
I'm a geneticist with a mediocre master's degree in biology and currently pursuing a PhD in Bioinformatics. Here are some insights: 1. The accuracy of consumer and clinical genetic tests is often questionable due to the rapid pace of scientific advancements outpacing their application in the industry. The notable exceptions are information about Neanderthal ancestry (which is significant enough to have earned a Nobel Prize in Medicine) and a few critical mutations like the sickle cell variant and others related to blood. 2. Genetically, most humans are nearly identical, with differences being incredibly minute. This means that, barring age and sex, achieving success in various fields – whether it's social, intelligence, or physical appearance – is possible without genetic modifications. Everyone likely has a unique genetic trait that gives them a significant advantage, however. This is currently identifiable only in a lab setting. Understanding your unique trait, which often involves the expression of certain molecules, might require professional scientific interpretation. 3. Many severe genetic diseases, such as insulin-dependent diabetes, are only about 50% determined by genetics. Factors like early developmental conditions, including a mother's diet during early pregnancy and infections, play a paramount role. 4. Despite common belief, Neanderthals were not a separate species but rather a part of the human family. For perspective, Europeans and the Khoisan people of South Africa have been genetically divergent for about 300,000 years, not much less than the 500,000-year divergence between humans and Neanderthals. 5. Factors beyond genetics, such as living in a highly controlled environment (like a prison), having access to specific nutrition, owning a car and a separate house, and engaging in mental activities like language learning, math, statistics, and team video games, can significantly impact personal development. Genetics helps us understand and appreciate the influence of these non-genetic factors. The field of genetics is incredibly dynamic and continually evolving, offering many more fascinating insights.
Astro 1 year ago
Apparently I have a “retroverted” uterus. Means it tilts slightly backwards instead of slightly forwards. Has absolutely no effect on my health, just a fun genetic fact.
Deb M.F. 1 year ago
Same here and my doctor said I was lucky to get pregnant since mine was very retroverted
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Kristal 1 year ago (edited)
Okay, maybe it's the wording but #4 does not make sense. They are another species but are hominid, as are humans. Maybe the terms are different depending the science? Cause Homo neanderthalensis is definitely different than Homo sapien sapiens. Homo is the genus (main branch of family tree, so to speak) and 'neanderthalensis' or 'sapien sapiens' are the SPECIES. All caps for emphasis that, while the names are not capitalized (they are italicized) they are different species. I also have a master's degree and am also pursuing a PhD, but mine is in Anthropology ... and my MA was not mediocre :p
BarkingSquirell 1 year ago
I grew up in a small town had never even heard of genetics and DNA until I took human biology for my science requirement. Just fascitating.
Ace 1 year ago
Mediocre means middling, average, unexceptional. They're using it self-effacingly to say they're not some sort of superstar in their chosen field.
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Janet Graham 1 year ago
I find genetics so fascinating because of the almost limitless possibilities. The different strands limit the possibilities enough to determine some relationships. Just very interesting!
Guess Undheit 1 year ago
When the Spanish and Portuguese invaded South America and started raping women, those groups had been physically separated for over 40,000 years (going west and east from the people that left Africa), the longest that any two human groups had ever been separated by time. Pregnancies still happened. [ "2. Genetically, most humans are nearly identical, with differences being incredibly minute. This means that, barring age and sex, achieving success in various fields – whether it's social, intelligence, or physical appearance – is possible without genetic modifications." ] Also, and NOT to give colonialist occupiers any credit, when universities were built in countries around the world, they produced graduates just as good as any in Europe and North America. ACCESS equals academic success, not skin.
#30
Genetic chimera is arguably the most interesting condition. It is possible (and documented) for a woman to give natural birth but the baby not match her DNA test.
Essentially, 2 fertilized eggs merge at a very early stage and developing into a single organism. Different parts of the body comprised of obe or the other genome.
It's most commonly discovered in domestic animals that have unexplainable color combinations, often (but not always) divided symmetrically.
AnnaB 1 year ago
It happened to one woman. She almost had her child taken away from her because their DNA was different. It was only after she became pregnant again and gave birth, with DNA testing done immediately, that it was discovered she had genetic chimera and absorbed her fraternal twin during their embryonic stage of development.
Courtney Christelle 1 year ago
I read about that one. That had to be so stressful for her.
Load More Replies... Sky Render 1 year ago
Mosaicism is similarly fascinating! When the DNA does not "draw lines in the sand" in the case of early genetic dissonance, instead they end up basically marbling throughout the body. There's tons of fascinating patterns, and it's likely that there are orders of magnitude greater amounts of mosaics than we are aware of in humanity due to most of them being not visually distinguishable.
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
Essentially, a woman can have the ovaries of a twin sister whose body she absorbed while in the womb.
Nick 1 year ago
So you mean the woman can go on Murry and claim not to be thr momma and the DNA test will prove she isn't?!
Happy to be a wallflower 1 year ago
Not always because there will be witnesses of the birth and hospitals usually tag babies according to their mothers to avoid mix-up and theft. Also, she probably wouldn't know she had genetic chimera until they took a DNA test, which I don't think mothers usually do because they know it's their baby
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#31
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
As sophomores in high school my biology class did the legendary yearly "cell play". We were each assigned a part/type of cell and had to create a costume and speech representing it. Then we performed it in the theater. The teacher always assigned the phagocyte to the biggest typical jock in the class. :) And it was the 90's when nothing was PC, so you can only imagine how that cell was usually portrayed. I cringe at it now, but at the time everyone thought it was hilarious.
Philip Rutter 1 year ago
"mitochondria" is a plural word; the singular is "mitochondrion". And about 20% of PhDs know that. :-)
Jackie Wacky 1 year ago
And is inherited solely from the mother. By analysing mitochondrial DNA, Professor Chris Stringer at UCL found that we are all descendants of an African Eve.
#32
Trauma can be inherited (look up transgenerational trauma). So if you feel more sensitive than most people it might be because your grandma experienced something horrible. On average it takes three generations to heal a trauma if I remember correctly. But only if properly treated and the parents do not retraumatize their kids with their unconscious trauma-responses. This way unhealthy behaviors would become the norm and eventually become genetically preferred automatic behavior for future generations.
BarkingSpider 1 year ago (edited)
I learned about this after having my daughter. She shows trauma responses despite no history of trauma herself. If you have trauma, get therapy before you have kids.
Panflute 1 year ago
Unfortunately, the problem is that trauma can actually alter your DNA. So your child will be affected even if you have therapy. However, therapy is still important because you will be more prepared to deal with your own child's issues, especially if they would trigger your own.
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Robin Roper 1 year ago
And this is why people of color are still impacted by slavery which ended 175 years ago
Tabitha 1 year ago
It all has to do with the stresses a mother experiences during pregnancy. I think the first study was in the Netherlands right after WWII (I could be wrong about the country, but I’m pretty sure the era is right).
Elle Roque 1 year ago
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/health/mind-epigenetics-genes.html#commentsContainer
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Actual Person 1 year ago
Why? It's not more important than anything else.
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Tiffany Marie 1 year ago
I'm messed up. Genetic and my own trauma. A lot of trauma. I tried drowning myself tonight. Yes my mom also committed suicide.
Nea 1 year ago
Things can and do get better, please give yourself more chances. All the best,
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Gypsy Lee 1 year ago
It is cyclical. It takes a lot to recognize the patterns and then make different choices in terms of response/reaction. It also helps to educate your kids about it so they can recognize it in themselves as well. Ignorance and pretending there are no problems is disastrous.
#33
Red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye colour combination
Ronna Black 1 year ago
Sounds like most of the red heads in my family. They are all blue eyed, except for me. I got green eyes. Two ginger grandfathers, ginger uncles and cousins, all blue eyed. Me, the only ginger girl, got green eyes
PeepPeep the duck 1 year ago
My sister is dark ginger with brown eyes, I’ve only seen or met 2-3 people with the same combo but I see gingers with blue or green eyes a lot.
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Brenda Kennedy 1 year ago
I'm redheaded with green. Not as rare, but next. I love my combo also.
#34
Not sure what gene but Redheads can take more pain then others also require more anesthesia.
Bookworm 1 year ago
I think this was supposed to be read the opposite way. Redheads *feel* more pain than other people, generally; the gene is linked to others that affect the nervous system. But yes, they do require more anaesthetic.
arthbach 1 year ago
No, there are many redheads who can withstand pain better than non-redheads. And they require more aneasthetic to knock them out.
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Astro 1 year ago
“Research has shown that people with red hair perceive pain differently than others. They may be more sensitive to certain types of pain and can require higher doses of some pain-killing medications. However, studies suggest that their general pain tolerance may be higher.“ https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/study-finds-link-between-red-hair-pain-threshold#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20people,pain%20tolerance%20may%20be%20higher.
Keira Pendragon 1 year ago
huh, I wonder if this is why labor was nbd except the last 5 minutes, but stomach attacks from my deranged (and otherwise perfectly healthy looking post removal) gallbladder hospitalized me o.O;
Load More Replies... Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
The mythbusters did an episode on this. Adam didn't do so well with the pain, but it seems other gingers were more pain tolerant.
Edison Lima 1 year ago
My dad had a luscious mane of jet-black hair until hia 40s, but his beard was quite scandalously red. He hated it because it looked like he painted either his hair or beard, so he would shave obsessively until his hair went white. None of his kids got that, but we got the occasional random bright red body hair occurrences about our bodies. They look lovely under the sun, but no idea why that happens.
ofcrjackson 1 year ago
Auburn here.. I always wake up during endoscopies and require an extra dose when it happens. Mother was auburn and most pain pills never worked for her AND they gave her multiple numbing shots to stitch her up after I was born (episiotomy), and she still felt every bit of it like nothing was given to her.
Midoribird Aoi 1 year ago
I am a redhead who doesn't burn and has a high pain tolerance. I also have a lot of NA ancestry. Go figure . Lol
Pittsburgh rare 1 year ago
I'm a brunette and need more anaesthesia but also can take more pain. A couple doctors were reluctant to believe it until I gave birth and epidural wore off really quickly.
3 Otters 🦦 1 year ago
Me too. I’m 87% Irish and going to the dentist is a trip. On the other hand, gave birth with no drugs.
Load More Replies... #35
40-50% of our DNA is the same as cabbage.
Astro 1 year ago (edited)
Sorry to disappoint, but it’s actually fairly misleading -“Due to billions of years of evolution, humans share genes with all living organisms. The percentage of genes or DNA that organisms share records their similarities. We share more genes with organisms that are more closely related to us.” Saying we share 90% of our DNA with bananas or whatever isn’t as dramatic as it sounds at face value. https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/genetics#:~:text=Due%20to%20billions%20of%20years,more%20closely%20related%20to%20us.
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Edda Kamphues 1 year ago
Most days I feel very much like a potato or a cabbage rather than a fully functioning human being.
BarkingSquirell 1 year ago
Ha ha, reminds me of the Kids in the Hall Sketch, "I have a cabbage for a head!"
#36
All people with blue eyes are descended from the same person
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
All humans are descended from the same woman 150,000 years ago. She's called mitochondrial Eve. (And she was a Cylon -human hybrid according to Battlestar Galactica.)
aiyshag 1 year ago
hahah yes or the lack there of and the still" goopi-ness" of her lashes. what is going on...lol
Load More Replies... Bookworm 1 year ago
I always thought this was cool. What are the odds that that mutation would only happen once in the known genetic history of humanity?
EJN 1 year ago
There is some thought that Neanderthals might have had blue or green eye color.
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
They also had the gene for red hair that’s different from our gene for red hair!
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Edda Kamphues 1 year ago
I learnt that about a week ago and now I'm mildly scared (yes, I have blue eyes as do my children...their father does not).
#37
One in 40 Ashkenazi Jewish women has a BRCA gene mutation. Mutations in BRCA genes raise a person's risk for getting breast cancer at a young age, and also for getting ovarian and other cancers. That is why Ashkenazi Jewish women are at higher risk for breast cancer at a young age.
Astro 1 year ago (edited)
Hey pandas! Have y’all done a lump check lately? Here’s your reminder, make sure you check during your next shower. (Edit to include anyone with breast tissue, not just ladies! Comments below are correct in saying everyone needs to check for breast lumps)
A. Starhawk Hunt 1 year ago
Even men have breast tissue; they too can get breast cancer.
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Upstaged75 1 year ago
On of my in-laws (Jewish) just had a complete mastectomy and hysterectomy last year after finding out she had the gene. She's the only one in the family who ended up having it thankfully. And hopefully she'll now live a long healthy life!
Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
There are SEVERAL genes that can cause breast cancer, and even if you don't have any of them you can still get breast cancer and it can run in families. My maternal grandmother, great aunt, my mother, her sister, AND my twin sister all had breast cancer. When they did my mom and sister's genetic testing, there was nothing present to support that it was genetic (at least not that has been identified as of now). I have a ton of anxiety about being diagnosed and panic every time my breasts hurt (which isn't something normal for me, so it's not something I can just ignore)
Amanda Garey 1 year ago (edited)
I have the BRCA 2 mutation, which I discovered after my diagnosis in August of breast cancer. Once chemotherapy is done, I have to wait 2 or 3 months & then will have a complete hysterectomy, oophorectomy, & bilateral mastectomy. Because I carry the BRCA mutation, because my tumor-restricting cells are mutated (I am covered in benign lipomas & have watched one grow before over the course of 3 days from nothing at all to a full lump), because I have a histologic grade of 3 (on a scale of 0-3, with 3 being the worst), & because all of this gives me an oncotype score (risk of recurrence on a scale of 0-100, with 100 being the worst) of 64, I am at massive risk of cancer recurrence. Honestly, even with the parts of me removed, I am still at risk because some cells of these parts will inevitably remain. Still, if I hadn't had a mammogram, I'd be well on my way to checking out. Mammograms save lives!
#38
Twins can have different fathers.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
Yes. Two children born from the same mother in the same pregnancy are called twins whether they are identical or not.
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PattyK 1 year ago
However, the probability of this is miniscule. The mother would have to release two eggs within a short time and have sex with two different men within a short time.
Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 1 year ago
Gal where I live has twins with two different fathers. One was black and one was white. Until someone explained it, I was very confused when i saw the three adults and the twins all in court for a child support case.
Load More Replies... The Original Bruno 1 year ago
My cats from the same litter have different fathers. Not sure how the lady working with the rescue org knew that. But one can pass for a pure-breed of a certain breed, except for a tell-take mark, having every trait, and his brother has none of them at all. It's amazing how they can share so little in common except for a brain cell.
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
I think they're mother was a raccoon. One eats out of his hands, and they both are hopeless trash pandas.
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Murphy Pants 1 year ago
Please don't ask the mother of twins if her children have the same father. This was a very common question for me. So many people do not understand the difference between identical and fraternal twins. It shows
boris joseph boos lamy 1 year ago
I read that Jesuschrist had just one male marker. What does that mean, male- female
#39
Pregnancy can alter your DNA as you create a new life. Allergies can appear or disappear, hair texture/colour can change.
Bookworm 1 year ago
A) As discussed above, hair can be affected by hormones. B) Pregnancy doesn't 'alter your DNA.' What happens, basically, is that the baby's cells enter your bloodstream through the placenta and some of the genetic material is incorporated into your own cells, which seems to particularly have an effect on the immune system - hence, possible new allergies. The mother's DNA hasn't been changed.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
I doubt that anyone here is even close to being an expert on the subject, but as near as I can tell Bookworm has it exactly right. *Cells* can cross the placenta, so that the DNA within the fetus' cells c an end up in the mother or a twin. That means the mother (and a twin, if there is one) can have that foreign DNA within their body, but it doesn't alter the mother's (or twin's) DNA any more than eating a hamburger makes you part cow, or being bitten by a snake makes you start producing snake DNA.
Load More Replies... Say No to Downvoting 1 year ago
I had a friend with significant coeliac who (accidentally) discovered that she could tolerate small ammount of spelt bread during pregnancy (which could otherwise land her in ED).
Marie Dahme 1 year ago
Or you can develop lactose intolerance after pregnancy like I did. Yeah, thanks kid. Lol
Janet Graham 1 year ago
Pregnancy is full of changes (besides the obvious). Taste preference can change - sometimes permanently! I went from hating fish to craving fast-food fish sandwiches (and still do). I went from drinking only black coffee to needing to mellow it some with cream and that was also a permanent change..
Just saying 1 year ago
When I had my first son, I lost all of my curls and he has curly hair. With my second son, I got my curls back and he had straight hair.
#40
There are more combinations than just XX and XY. And some of the variations have no outward signs, so you could have one of them and have no idea without genetic testing.
3 Otters 🦦 1 year ago (edited)
There is a list, check 23 and Me’s article The truth about biological sex. Here is a snippet, read the whole article for context. Generally, people with no Y chromosome appear biologically female, while people with at least one Y chromosome appear male: Most females are XX, and most males are XY. But there are other combinations too, such as XXX, XXY, XYY, XYYY, XXXY, XXXX, X (also known as XO),and mosaic XY/X or XX/X individuals, whose unusual karyotypes arose from a failure of sex chromosomes to end up in the right place during cell division. (A karyotype is the number and appearance of your chromosomes under a microscope.) But, biological sex isn’t all about which sex chromosomes you have.
Jessica Shookhoff 1 year ago
When I was doing my internship I was studying an individuals's DNA who had Leydig Cell Hypoplasia. They were fully XY and should have been biologically male. However, a mutation in their Luteinizing Hormone Receptor made it completely nonfunctional, meaning that their LH receptor couldn't bind testosterone at all. The inability to bind testosterone means this person was born looking fully biological female, because, it turns out, the default setting for humans is female. We all literally start out embryonically as females, and the ability to bind and respond to testosterone is what converts a fetus from female to male. The penis is really just a very big clitoris. So, yeah, we all start out as female.
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Jill Rhodry 1 year ago
The results of genetic testing would be interesting in those who identify as NB, trans and fluid.
rullyman 1 year ago
One of my friends is XXY and has gone through several changes in gender identity through her life. Gay man for many years, then non-binary. She is now undergoing medical transition because she identifies as a woman. Since finding out shes XXY and exploring her gender identity she's been much much happier
Load More Replies... Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
When I worked with troubled kids we had one young boy we really wanted to check to see if he had the XYY combination. That tends to be associated with violent, psychopathic tendencies. Every male in his family was involved in extremely violent criminal activity. Even though they weren't in his life much, he thought that culling people was a natural, normal part of everybody's life.
The.Butterfly.Effect.530 1 year ago
Hmmm... seems like the proper healthcare for those people should be very important. Now if we only had a term to describe those who don't match their PRESUMED gender at birth. Because obviously genitals can be misleading. So requiring genetic testing could make life better for those who fall into those other categories.
PeepPeep the duck 1 year ago (edited)
I dated someone with kleinfelders years ago and that’s interesting to learn about
Fynne 1 year ago
I heard some of these combinations are what makes someone feel like they are the opposite gender, and therefore become trans. Does anyone know if this is true?
Rayne OfSalt 1 year ago
Like everything, there's no black & white "this is why".
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Severus S 1 year ago (edited)
Gender is social construct and comes in as many varieties as personality, probably becasue at the heart of it, thats what gender is, personality expression. sex is binary, simply because it only comes in two reproductive types in mammals such as us, small and large gamites, unless there is a third gamite sex will always be binary. Large gamites =eggs, small =sperm, one sexual pathway will always inhibit the other even if there are sexual or reproductive anomalies.
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#41
Twins can be half identical. Like same egg split but two different sperms so they share about 75% genetic similarities compared to 100% in identical twins and 50% in fraternal twins/siblings.
They can even be boy and girl twins.
CanadianDimes 1 year ago (edited)
I remember learning that from “Dead to Me”. Two of the characters were semi-identical twins and I thought, that sounds so fake. I looked it up and it was first discovered because someone gave birth to twins that were one female and one male baby but shared a single amniotic sack (so couldn’t be fraternal twins).
Jessica Shookhoff 1 year ago
Ok, I'm a biochemist and genetic genealogist, but I've never heard of this. How cool! 😃
Load More Replies... Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
I haven't had testing done, but I'm pretty sure that happened to my sister and me. We are twins, and we look a lot alike, moreso than non twin sisters would, enough to where people have mistaken one for the other (especially when we were younger), but we are NOT identical.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
People think Elizabeth Olsen's sisters (I forget their names) are twins like this.
Ria C. 1 year ago
If I remember correctly they are referred to as mirror twins. The same but different righ handed versus left and othe smaller details I prefer to not remember.
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Pandasizing World Peace 1 year ago
The same egg, if it splits can produce a boy and a girl, since it is the sperm that determines the actual sex. You don’t see it often, but there are boy and wait girl twins, who do look identical.
#42
Pretty much everybody is clueless about 99.9% of genetics.
Philip Rutter 1 year ago
LOL!!! Totally true! And that includes geneticists I guarantee! I are one!
Freya the Wanderer 1 year ago
This is why we have to be very careful with GMOs! Though they definitely have great promise, they are still a two-edged sword. One problem is genes that give crops resistance to weed killers jump from the "good" plants (crops) to the "bad" ones (what we call weeds). I support GMOs, but on the other hand acknowledge that we must use them with great caution.
René Sauer 1 year ago
Eh, why should they if don´t happen to be scientists, medical experts or other people working with it?
#43
The ability to flex the tongue as a cloverleaf is genetic.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
So is rolling up your (actual) tongue and rolling your (speaking) R's. I cannot do either, which is annoying since I am nearly fluent in Spanish. :) I've never been able to say dog correctly even though I know how it's supposed to sound. LOL!
A. P. 1 year ago
If you make a soft 'd' sound instead of a rolled 'r', it compensates for most of the words that require a rolled 'r'.
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Blaze Onyx 1 year ago
OOH I can do this! It skips a generation in the AFAB maternal side of my family- My maternal grandmother can do this, my mum cant but I can!
#44
Get tested for hereditary high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolemia). It's a comparatively common genetic disorder. It shows next to no symptoms but can clog your arteries and kill you, no matter how healthy your diet and lifestyle. It rarely skips a generation. The treatment is usually a medication called statins.
Bottle Opener 1 year ago
I have this genetic condition. It's called hyperlipidemia. And statins give me excruciating neuralgia. So I'm 50 and I have a non-alcoholic fatty liver.
Angela B 1 year ago
Close, regular monitoring of the liver (pathology and fibroscan) are key in your situation. Look after your health and see your Specialist regularly please.
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Jaz79 1 1 year ago
It's very likely I've inherited this my GP recommended I took statins. I had a major health issue before I could start them. When I'd recovered I had a new GP who was concerned about the amount of meds I was already taking, most were for side effects from one of the other many meds. She stopped all but the one I had to take and told me that starting statins was a bad idea. I've changed GP since then and although I've had my blood cholesterol monitored many times since they've never felt the need to start them. From what I understand statins should only be used now as a last resort as there are issues taking them. Basically regular monitoring, if levels start getting high, then diet/exercise plan, only if that fails should statins be considered. My father over 30 years ago was put straight on them he had a few issues but thankfully nothing serious.
Courtney Christelle 1 year ago
I should get tested for that, a couple family members have a problem with their cholesterol.
Michael Miller Sr. 1 year ago
My younger sisters have cholesterol readings in the 600-800 range so do my aunts on my father's side. But my level is normal (below 180).
Barbara Baldwin 1 year ago
Ugh. My family has it. Our cholesterol numbers are in the 400-600 range.
Colleen Faraday 1 year ago
I experienced severe neuralgia on statins. I now get injections of Leqvio (inclisiran) every six months with no side effects.
Robert Beveridge 1 year ago
oooooooh, I'll have to ask my doc about this. (Or, more probably, my insurance, who are likely to laugh at me.)
Load More Replies... #45
Since our mitochondria used to be separate single celled organisms, they have their own DNA
Bookworm 1 year ago
And because you get your mitochondrial DNA only from your mother, mtDNA is used to trace direct matrilineal descent in entire populations, going back thousands of years.
A. Starhawk Hunt 1 year ago
All the way to “Eve” the theoretical mother of mankind?
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Alex Kennedy 1 year ago
I think this is backward. BECAUSE mitochondria have their own (incomplete) DNA, it is THEORIZED that they are descended from separate cells.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago (edited)
The mitochondria in our cells are copies of the ones in the eggcell from our mothers, the DNA isn't incomplete, it's the one from another person and not our own
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#46
Humans are closer genetically to bonobos than chimpanzees. I wish I was a bonobo.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
It's a type of ape known for being extremely promiscuous and having sex at the drop of a hat.
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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I saw a TV program that showed different species of apes, where humans were testing their intelligence. I saw a bonobo playing a computer game meant for kindergartners. It taught the alphabet and number symbols. The bonobo in question was able to identify them. It was interesting.
Castles 1 year ago
Omg my teenage son called me this the other day as a joke and started laughing I had no idea what it meant until reading these comments. Someone’s off to summer boot camp 🤣🤣
Aimee Stilts 1 year ago
A Bonobo is a chimpanzee, Pan Paniscus; whereas the Common Chimp is Pan Trogolodytes. And yes, they use sex to convey a number of emotions as well as using it to diffuse conflict.
#47
Some genetic diseases persist because having one copy of the disease causing version of that gene can have benefits, so even though having two copies is deadly, that copy of the gene doesn't go away in the population.
Bookworm 1 year ago
The classic example being sickle cell anemia. Two copies gives you the disease, but one copy gives you significant protection against malaria.
Theora Fifty-five Johnson 1 year ago
Having 1 gene for Cystic Fibrosis may confer protection fro Tuberculosis. Have 2 genes = CF, which now has way better treatments, at least.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
I need to get the gene testing for CF, now it's free on Medicare in Australia.
Load More Replies... #48
Your immune system regulation genes (HLA) have a huge impact on how you smell!
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
Please clarify "how you smell". Do you mean how you use your sense of smell? Or do you mean your odor?
Avani Gupta 1 year ago
It's how you smell others. Specially people of the opposite gender. Your HLA will affect whose smell you are attracted to. This is based on the MHC gene in your partner which helps us detect who has a complementary immune system to us (people who have immunity to the diseases we are not immune to). Finding such a person will lead to kids resistant to more diseases
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Gold Medal? 🥇 🤞🤞 1 year ago
Well my pancreas is dead thanks to my immune system so, either I smell REAL bad or REAL good.
Shirley Heyn 1 year ago
I assume that is why one symptom of having Covid could be loss of smell. . .!
#49
The green eyed gene is a recessive gene when compared to brown eyed gene; it is dominant when compared to blue eye gene.
Bookworm 1 year ago
Dominance isn't nearly as simple as the middle school biology Punnet squares make it seem. That's just an easy way to introduce the concept.
Mysteria 1 year ago
You’re correct. But the Punnet squares are not entirely wrong either just because they’re simple.
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Sarah Jupiter 1 year ago
Green eyes aren't genetic. They're an expression of both blue and brown eye genes. I did a bunch of research on it because both my parents are blue eyed and so are my siblings. I have green eyes and thought that my sperm donor wasn't my father. Then I remembered that my maternal grandmother had green eyes so my egg donor carried the brown eye gene but it wasn't expressed
AnnwylTheBloodyLovesFerghus 1 year ago
It wasn't very recessive in my father's side of the family. He and several siblings, as well as nieces and nephews, had green eyes. I was born with green, too. Unfortunately, they changed to brown before I turned one. Same with my daughter. My grandson has beautiful eyes that change depending on the light. Sometimes greenish, sometimes bluish, and at times light brown. He has all the colors.
Cydney Golden 1 year ago
Me dark brown eyes, hubby green/hazel eyes, biological child blue eyes.
Janet Graham 1 year ago
My husband has green eyes that change with his mood. Does that make them hazel? His ex was blue-eyed. They have a brown-eyed son and a blue-eyed daughter.
Louisa Spoke 1 year ago
I’m green eyed with central Heterochromia of gold. I've been asked if my eyes are contact lenses quite a few times.
#50
UV gives you cancer because literally makes your DNA stick so tightly the only way to fix it is remove the entire section then "guess" what was there. More this happens, more chance cell becomes cancerous.
Bacteria don't have this polymerase repair so it's why UV kills them or mutates them.
Plant one - Hexaploid wheat possesses 42 chromosomes derived from its three ancestral genomes. The 21 pairs of chromosomes can be further divided into seven groups of six chromosomes (one chromosome pair being derived from each of the three ancestral genomes)... This is mainly because of how much humans have bred it it's literally inbred.
Jessica Shookhoff 1 year ago
Not if it's gluten free! Thank you, I'll see myself out...
Load More Replies... Janet Graham 1 year ago
Manipulated breeding of plants and animals gives us all of the varieties we enjoy today! Unfortunately, some plant varieties have been bred for longer storage or straighter stems at the cost of sacrificing flavor or fragrance.
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What do you think ?
David Paterson 1 year ago
There are two completely different types of mutations. One is the single point mutation that affects only one gene and follows recessive/dominant rules. The other is a chromosomal disorder that affects dozens or even hundreds of genes at once. Chromosomal disorders are NOT diagnosable by genetic testing, only by looking at chromosomes under a microscope. Chromosomal disorders don't follow a recessive/dominant rule but instead a balanced/unbalanced rule. A balanced disorder is harmless but the child of a balanced disorder may be an unbalanced disorder, which can be very bad news. Most separation of species is due to chromosomal disorders, not due to single point mutations.
Guess Undheit 1 year ago
The best thing about proving genetics is also the worst thing. If something is proven true by genetics, then the person who has it cannot and should NOT be abused or "altered" for things that are out of their control (e.g. being born with schizophrenia). On the other hand, there are plenty of bigots would happily repeat history and misuse genetics to perpetrate eugenics and euthanasia.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
My family went to a genetic councillor recently. We finally found out what the condition was two of my brothers had. Turns out it wasn't mitochondrial, like we expected, and wasn't X-linked either. It was due to two faulty genes on one particular chromosome, the condition is called TBCK. It is an autosomal recessive disease, meaning it is caused by genetic mutations usually carried by both parents. There are only 35 known cases world wide (not including my brothers). Thankfully, because it is caused by a genetic mutation, it is very unlikely we will pass it on to children.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
I have a disorder, and I’m a carrier of a different type of the disorder. I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, AND I am a carrier of dermatosparaxis Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare form that I do not display symptoms of (the symptoms I share with it are best explained by my hypermobile EDS). I have no idea if me carrying a copy of that gene made me develop hEDS or if it is affecting it. hEDS could be a completely different gene; the genetic mutation for it isn’t yet known (the diagnosis is through ruling out the other forms + symptoms). Carrier rate of drEDS is like 1:2000 for the general population, but 1:248 for my ethnicity.
David Paterson 1 year ago
There are two completely different types of mutations. One is the single point mutation that affects only one gene and follows recessive/dominant rules. The other is a chromosomal disorder that affects dozens or even hundreds of genes at once. Chromosomal disorders are NOT diagnosable by genetic testing, only by looking at chromosomes under a microscope. Chromosomal disorders don't follow a recessive/dominant rule but instead a balanced/unbalanced rule. A balanced disorder is harmless but the child of a balanced disorder may be an unbalanced disorder, which can be very bad news. Most separation of species is due to chromosomal disorders, not due to single point mutations.
Guess Undheit 1 year ago
The best thing about proving genetics is also the worst thing. If something is proven true by genetics, then the person who has it cannot and should NOT be abused or "altered" for things that are out of their control (e.g. being born with schizophrenia). On the other hand, there are plenty of bigots would happily repeat history and misuse genetics to perpetrate eugenics and euthanasia.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
My family went to a genetic councillor recently. We finally found out what the condition was two of my brothers had. Turns out it wasn't mitochondrial, like we expected, and wasn't X-linked either. It was due to two faulty genes on one particular chromosome, the condition is called TBCK. It is an autosomal recessive disease, meaning it is caused by genetic mutations usually carried by both parents. There are only 35 known cases world wide (not including my brothers). Thankfully, because it is caused by a genetic mutation, it is very unlikely we will pass it on to children.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
I have a disorder, and I’m a carrier of a different type of the disorder. I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, AND I am a carrier of dermatosparaxis Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare form that I do not display symptoms of (the symptoms I share with it are best explained by my hypermobile EDS). I have no idea if me carrying a copy of that gene made me develop hEDS or if it is affecting it. hEDS could be a completely different gene; the genetic mutation for it isn’t yet known (the diagnosis is through ruling out the other forms + symptoms). Carrier rate of drEDS is like 1:2000 for the general population, but 1:248 for my ethnicity.
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