What Defines You?

Do you have those relatives that come during the holidays and go, "Oh you have your mother's smile and good looks!" Or, "Hey! you have your dad's personality!" or, "OH MY GOSH I'M TURNING INTO MOM!"  Research says that genes have some role in playing out how you will act when you grow older. I'm not saying that you'll definitely get your parent's funny bone or sense of independence, but it contributes. Environment is the biggest factor that determines who you'll turn out to be like because a person's personality comes from within and cannot be passed down directly to your son/daughter. That may not be the case for all people, but to most it is.

A huge study in Sweden proved that slightly over 50% of the traits can be seen in both adult identical and fraternal twins from their parents. However, I'm sure that environment has shaped the mold of who they were. Neuroticism and extraversion were the most dominant trait found in both twins from their parents. Neuroricism is very similar to pessimisticism. You're always negative and cranky. Extraversion is the trait of being really open and talkative. You're comfortable around strangers and love being around people. These are two of the big five personality traits that people can have. It's very fascinating.

Other researchers say that there are 2 definite genes that you will inherit to determine how you'll act. The two hormones called seratonin and dopamine will affect your personality because those are two physical chemicals in your body that will affect something. Depending on how much you get sets the predisposition to the environmental factors. Serotonin is the hormone that gives you that happy feeling. You know the feeling you get when you see a cute cat? Yes. That's serotonin. Dopamine is the hormone that gets your heart racing. So, if your parent had a depression problem or a brain problem, then you are more susceptible to it because of those two hormones.

All of us share the 20,000 genes that are known today. So why don't we all talk alike? Why don't we all be shy? Why don't we all have anger management issues? Why don't we all have brown hair and blue eyes? That's because there are different variation in the genes that we all have. There's this one gene in us called GTF21. This gene controls the activity of all the other genes. So if a kid was born with a variation of GTF21, they might be super shy and uncomformtable around other people. So why is it that this one gene can be the difference to how you might act when you grow up? It's because of a two-step process. One set of genes makes the brain train itself to recognize the environment around them, then GTF21 rewires the other genes to be able to recognize this face and react. We all have the same GTF21 but the variation is only less than 1%. So technically, we all are kinda alike in a way. One question I had was "So can someone just replace the gene so that the person won't be so shy?" Turns out, you might just do that. But it all depends on what kind of gene it is. Is it a development or signaling gene? If it is a development gene, you can't replace it because you cannot reverse your brain to the way it was. Development genes alter the structure of a brain. If it's a signaling gene, you may be able to using drugs. That's how anti-depressants work.

The world of genetics is just so unbelievable. There's so much going on and there's always something new around the corner. A new disease, a new mutation, a new baby born with 3 eyes. It's all just so mind-blowing. So, the next time you think that you're turning into your parents, blame them and not yourself.