• Question: why are we all different

    Asked by anon-186958 to Stewart, Miriam, Marton, Laura, Kathryn, David on 5 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: David Ho

      David Ho answered on 5 Nov 2018:

      It’s not my area of expertise, but as I understand it, every person (apart from identical twins) has different DNA, which determines a lot of our physical characteristics.

      There’s also the fact that every single person has different experiences from the moment they are born, which makes us different both physically and in the way we think and act.

      As far as I know, the exact reasons for why we look and act the way we do are still things that scientists are working to try and find out. It’s a lot more complicated than the tiny particles that I study, that’s for sure!

    • Photo: Miriam Hogg

      Miriam Hogg answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      David answered this fantastically! We also have different attributes that are based on where we were from. For example humans of Asian decent are often lactose intolerant as early human settlers there didn’t need to rely on milk as much. While humans of European descent are mostly able to drink milk! There are lots of these differences between humans based on where we settled as well as the differences based on individual DNA.

    • Photo: Marton Olbei

      Marton Olbei answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      Huh, this is a great question, you can look at it from multiple angles!

      On a biological level we are fundamentally different because of our genes, the DNA we inherit from our parents are most likely going to be a unique combination only specific to us.

      David touched on a really interesting case – what about identical twins? Well, their DNA is (almost completely) the same, but even they can be a bit different, because how you grow up – where you live, what you eat (this is what people often call “environmental factors”) – can in the end change you as a person. For example, there is a genetic element to how tall you can grow, but as it turns out having a healthy diet as a child is almost just as important.

    • Photo: Stewart Martin-Haugh

      Stewart Martin-Haugh answered on 9 Nov 2018:

      I suspect even if everyone was genetically identical clones, their experience would change them quickly.

      You would probably also want to differentiate yourself from people: this happens naturally at the moment through hair and eye colour, facial features, etc. But even so, people don’t want to just wear uniforms all the time: they have their own preferences for clothes etc.

      Would be quite a fun science fiction story: would people want to change their faces, eye colour, hair colour?

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