Nature vs Nurture | Genetics | Biology

Animation & Design: Waldi Apollis
Narration: Dale Bennett
Script: Bethan Parry

Have you noticed that you're different to your relations, parents or carers, your next-door neighbour, the kid who lives across the street and everyone else on the planet? In fact you’re unique.
But do you really know why you are different? Why are we all different to each other? Why does any organism have different characteristics to another organism?

The answer lies in a long running debate called ‘nature versus nurture’, or genetics versus environment, which is a little less catchy!

‘Nature’ refers to our genetics – the unique combination of genes that we have naturally inherited from our biological parents, from their DNA. Many characteristics are controlled by our genes, including our blood group, eye colour or natural hair colour. Some diseases are also caused by our genes, for example cystic fibrosis. The colour of a flower or a fruit is controlled by genes in plants.
‘Nurture’ refers to the effect of the environment on characteristics, the word literally means care. Examples of characteristics that are determined by the environment are weight, or mass, which is dependent on your diet, or the presence of a scar. Some diseases may be caused by environmental influences, such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Imagine that a plant has not received enough sunlight or water. This may influence the height of the plant or the number of fruits produced. We would say that the environment has influenced these characteristics too, or that a plant has been affected by nurture.

The effect of genetics and the environment on characteristics has been researched using identical twins. Can you think why this is? (Pause). Identical twins have identical DNA, so, in theory, should have identical characteristics. It follows that any differences between a pair of identical twins could be due to the influence of the environment on their characteristics. In fact, twins often grow up to have very different personalities and preferences beyond their physical similarities. These studies showed that many characteristics are influenced by both genetics and the environment. Some studies actually use twins identical genomes as a control to prove the effect of the environment on the body. For example, one study showed how skin aged differently by comparing smoker twins with non-smoker twins.

Remember that the characteristics of a living organism are influenced by its genetics and its interaction with the environment. So both nature and nurture are responsible.

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