• Question: how do human genes affect our bodies?

    Asked by smith1 to Judith on 14 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Judith Sleeman

      Judith Sleeman answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      Our genes contain the entire ‘blueprint’ to make us: the set of instructions in the original fertilized egg that grew to make you will have said what colour your eyes would be, whether you had straight or curly hair, how tall you would be. Some genes even determine what diseases you might get later in life.

      Of course, genes aren’t everything. You could have genes to make you very tall, but not get enough food or have an illness and end up much shorter. If you know (or suspect from your family history) that your genes might make you more likely to have a heart attack or to get diabetes, then you can adjust your diet and/or life-style to try and minimise the risks.

      We’re all a complex mixture of our genetics and our life experience.

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