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It's easy to feel like you're an even mix of your parents,
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but that's not always the case.
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So, who should you be blaming over those traits you don't like?
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What did you inherit from Mom and what came from Dad?
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Colour-blind?
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If you're a male, you can thank your mother.
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Red-green colour blindness is an X-linked disorder that
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affects nearly 6% of the male population worldwide, but only 0.4% of females.
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This is because males only inherit one X chromosome, which is from their mother,
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and that's where red-green colorblindness comes from.
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If you're a female, you have to get a the X-variant from both parents.
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So that 0.4% can blame dad as well!
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Balding?
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A big component comes from the X-chromosome here too,
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so you likely inherited this from your mom.
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However, a study involving 52,000 people found that genes on other chromosomes can
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affect this condition, on top of environmental factors such as age, stress, and diet -
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so mom isn't entirely to blame!
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Research has also found that the shape of the end of your nose, the area above and below the lips,
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cheekbones and the inner corner of the eye are highly influenced by genetics.
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And interestingly, the more they resemble your father as a child,
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the healthier you're likely to be.
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Why?
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Scientists believe that a father-child resemblance causes fathers to spend more time engaging
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in positive parenting, which ultimately contributes to healthier kids.
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Now, even though you get half of your 46 chromosomes from mom and the other from dad,
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a study involving genetically diverse mice found that
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for 60% of genes the paternal copy was more active than the maternal copy.
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This phenomenon is known as allelic imbalance.
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The same study also noted that the brains of these particular mice more closely resembled
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that of their dad than their mom.
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However, in humans we actually see the opposite.
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Our brains are more similar to our mother, which is particularly true for daughters.
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Interestingly, the similar brain regions are actually associated with depressive conditions,
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suggesting that mood disorders may pass from mother to daughter.
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Biologists used to believe that all DNA came from the nucleus, but we now know that the
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mitochondria (AKA the powerhouse of the cell) also kicks in some protein coding genes.
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And this mitochondrial DNA is specifically inherited from your mom because
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your dad's degraded immediately after fertilization.
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Considering how important mitochondrial DNA is in the cell,
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there is a stronger maternal link.
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Mutations in mitochondrial DNA have been associated with Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease
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- which more likely came from your mom.
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Maternal inheritance gave rise to the idea of a “Mitochondrial Eve”,
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a woman who lived between 180,000 to 580,000 years ago
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from which all human mitochondrial DNA is rooted.
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At the end of the day, it may seem like a lot of traits actually come from your mom,
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or at least, from the X chromosome - and that's generally true, genetically.
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The Y-chromosome is very small, and doesn't contain as many genes;
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and both females and males contain X-chromosomes, which carry more genes.
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But as we continue to research more about ourselves at the genetic level,
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the division between what you got from mom vs. dad may become even more pronounced.
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If you want to know more about your own genetics,
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you can visit 23andMe.com/asap, who sponsored this episode.
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Whether you want to know about your chances of balding, back hair, your taste senses work or
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where your ancestors came from, 23andMe's kit will get you started.
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We both took the test, and I found out the GREAT news that
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I have higher likelihood of having a little upper back hair,
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which until recently I thought was FALSE, but as I've aged Greg told me that it is happening.
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He's almost 30 and it's sprouted, so 23andMe was on that.
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What I thought it's interesting is that you can find out how certain factors affect your weight.
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Like for me fast food is likely to have the biggest impact on my weight followed by exercise.
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Be sure to head to 23andMe.com/asap for the latest promotion on your kit.
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As always, thanks for watching, make sure you subscribe
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for more weekly science videos every Thursday, and we will see you next time!