We all know that we share DNA with both parents, and you will most likely look like one or both during different stages of your life. Whether you have your mother’s nose or your hair from your dad, we share a genetic inheritance. Dawn Allain, licensed genetic counselor and director of the Genetic Counselling Graduate Program, said, “It’s nearly impossible to tease out exactly where each of your traits come from. Many genes influence most traits, and you inherit some from each parent.” The environment plays a small part in traits that people assume are inherited but aren’t.
Dawn said, “There are three main ways you can inherit traits from your parents. First is through a dominant gene – if you inherit a dominant gene, you will develop that trait. Take eye colour, for example. If either of your parents has brown eyes, you likely will have brown eyes as this is a dominant trait. Second is through a recessive gene – both parents have to have the recessive gene for you to have that trait. For instance, if you have blue eyes, then both of your parents must carry a gene for blue eyes, even if their eye colour isn’t blue. Lastly, there are X-linked traits, which are found only on the X chromosome and are passed on through the mother.”
Your Hairline
It’s a myth if you’ve heard how and when a man loses his hair because of the inherited gene from his mother’s side. A study by PLoS Genetics said that 287 independent genetic signals were linked to male-pattern hair loss, and only 40 were found in the X chromosome. This means they were inherited on the maternal side, and the rest were scattered through DNA inherited by both patterns. Hair loss caused by some genes is also associated with an increased risk for heart disease in men.
Your Ability to Lose Weight
You have different types of fat within your body. There is “good” brown fat, which increases your metabolism and ensures that you maintain a healthy weight, and “bad” white fat, which causes disease and obesity if you have too much of it. We all have some of each fat, but however much brown fat you have is inherited by your mum. A study also suggested that another trait you get from your mum is your intelligence.
Your Fertility
According to a study published in Science, you could inherit a gene from your father that impacts your fertility. A part of a cell in a normal egg cell called the centrioles is eliminated during the natural development process. However, if these aren’t eliminated, usually due to a genetic dysfunction, then this will be passed on by her dad, then a woman is sterile, explains researchers.
How Easily You Gain Weight
Your mum is helping you with the good brown fat, but your dad is to blame for his part in the wrong white fat. The amount of fat you store, especially around your organs, could be determined by genes your father passes down. It isn’t destiny regarding genetics with your weight, as your lifestyle choices will play an even more significant part.
Your Memory
If you have a family history of Alzheimer’s, this could increase your chances of developing the disease, and this genetic risk comes from your mother. Diagnosing with Alzheimer’s increases your risk of dementia later in life, and there are nearly six million people in the USA alone. It’s essential to know the factors that could increase your risk, including your mother’s medical history. Knowing this will help you take the steps to protect the health of your brain now.
Your Ability to Focus
You have a high risk of developing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder later in life if your mother has low serotonin levels. Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that is linked to mood. The genetics passed down from the mother to the child, significantly if they impact serotonin products, could influence your ability to focus.
The Sex of Your Children
The sex of your children is determined by the genes you and the baby’s father passed down. However, you may not have been aware that the genes you pass on to your children could determine the sex your father likely passed down. A man with many brothers is likely to have sons, whereas a man with more sisters is likely to have daughters.
If You Hit Puberty Early
One of the many fun milestones in life is hitting puberty, which comes with acne and broken voices, as well as getting your period. Both parents play a part in the significant change, and if you began puberty early, especially before the age of 8 in girls and 9 in boys, then it could be because of a gene passed down by your father. The genetic mutation leads to premature puberty, which means that if you have it, you will have to deal with puberty before your friends.
Your Mood
Your mother can influence your mood in many ways, and it isn’t just by asking you to eat your vegetables three times a week. The part of your brain structure, the corticolimbic system, controls your emotional regulation and plays a role in disorders such as depression. This is most likely passed down from mothers to daughters rather than mothers to sons or fathers to children of both sexes. This could mean any daughters born could partly inherit their mood from their mothers.
Your Laugh Lines
As you get older and age, the way you age and how much you show it is determined by the level of damage over your lifetime to your mitochondrial DNA, which are genes you get from your mother. Of course, other environmental factors, such as unhealthy diets, sun exposure, and smoking, play a role. However, the more mtDNA with mutations that you get from your mother, the faster you age, and this means that it will show more in traits such as grey hair and wrinkles.
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