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Aren't genes wonderful little things

TheCatWoman

Isn't it amazing that gene's can change so much, like whether you can roll your tongue or not, attached or unattached ear lobe's, corriander tasting like soap to some, brocolli tasting incredibly bitter to others.

I can see that far back in our evolutionary journey when mammals first started coming to dominance, that being able to make your tongue into a straw would be useful, whilst others lapped, but what is it with ear lobes?

  • in reply to Damojo

    I enjoyed reading ‘The Selfish Gene’ too. Fascinating stuff.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    Yes, for sure it is fun! 

    I am increasingly fascinated by the role of genetics in archaeology and how it has even changed the way Classics is studied. 

    We talked before about other sophisticated ‘civilisations’ that were established earlier in separate geographical areas to those of Classical Greece. I rarely watch films but I did see ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, and I keep wondering what the father of Toula would say to that (He kept going on about everything having come from Greece).

  • in reply to ArchaeC

    I agree on the whole, but discussing little things like attached or unattached earlobes is fun.

  • My DNA profile was spot on with my appearance when it indicated that I likely had detached earlobes, a certain hair colour and texture, and a particular colour of eyes and skin tone. 

    I am one of those people who tastes soap if coriander is added to food, but I don’t find broccoli bitter. 

    It seems that multiple genes and environmental factors are responsible for ear lobe attachment/detachment, but I can’t find anything reliable on why they would be so, although I did find a dubious paper on the subject with a political agenda that I wouldn’t trust. I think we need to be very careful these days about things we read to do with genetics. 

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    My dad could twitch his ears, but I can't. Must have lucked out on that particular gene.

  • in reply to Damojo

    Some people can twitch thier ears too, which seems to be another genetic thing, I can see an evolutionary sense to this on though.

  • I really liked The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. It is evolutionary biology from the point of view of the gene, rather than the organism hosting that gene. It really helped to understand things from a different, and probably more correct, perspective.

    The Internet thinks that ear lobes are a throwback to earlier, smaller mammals where the ear lobes may have improved hearing significantly. However, in humans, they don't really serve a purpose any more (except as somewhere to hold your earrings), so whether they are attached or detached doesn't really make a difference to hearing.

    I hadn't heard about the coriander/soap thing. We learned about cucumbers being bitter to some people when in school, though.