Genes Vs Character — The Battle Between Nature and Nurture
In the never-ending fight between inherited genetic destiny and acquired developed characteristics, who wins?
“That is just how I am!”
I have said it. My friends have said it, even numerous of my family members have had a go at its distinct cousin or so. But we all shout or think this out loud at one point in our lives, “That is how I always am… This is me, this is how I walk and talk, my character is such, my nature is such. I can’t help it!”
But have any of us truly wondered for once, what makes us “like” this. Why exactly can’t we “help it”? What defines the way that we behave, the way that we are?
Thousands of years have been spent by researchers in the search for identifying precisely who or what is in control of our destiny. Is it what we solely inherit by the method of blind genetic luck, or what characteristics we acquire through the experiences of our lives, and our environments combined, that decides unmistakably who we “can’t help” become?
Is our destiny inscribed the instant we are born?
Or is it shaped through the experiences, and environments of our lifelong?
Who has the upper hand?
Who is winning?
Let us try and find an answer to this, once and for all.
But first.
What are these “Genes”? (An introduction)
For this, we will embark on a short journey back to our classrooms of old, a trip to the basic secondary-school biology which can perfectly explain the required query as below:
Our body is made up of tiny, quite microscopic, and fundamental units of life known as cells. Within each of these cells lays a multitude of mind-boggling substances. Ranging from the mighty mitochondria (Yes, the powerhouse of the cell!) to the crucial chromosomes, which house the structured form of our precious, precious DNA. And a particular sequence of this DNA, coiled inside chromosomes in seldom a symmetrical shape, is known as a Gene [1].
But what does this Gene do? Why is it of such magnanimous importance?
For starters, they provide the all-crucial set of instructions that should be followed by each cell in our body. Which cell should go where, what task it needs to perform, what shape it has to take, and nearly countless other dire instructions that make the shape and form of who we are.
“The eyes should be upfront, the nose below, the hair like such, a pair of arms on each side, a couple of legs below, four fingers and a thumb, four fingers and a toe…”
All of these precious commandments are embedded deep in the mere sequence of our genes. They are the roots of our body, the real mastermind behind our peculiar existence on this planet. And since we are humans, we all share almost 99.9% of our DNA [2]. Meaning we practically have an identical set of instructions inscribed within our genome. (of course!)
But it only takes the remaining 0.1% to make you you, and me me.
This 0.1% contains all of the subtle nuances of individuality, our hair color, our eye shape, the broadness of our shoulders, the length of our fingers, the growth of hair that we would be having throughout our lives, the precise structure of our face, whether we would possess a dimple in our smile, or a frail voice when we speak, and the list can become limitless.
Not only about the outer structure, but this 0.1% also encapsulates our inner selves. Whether we will be creative, hardworking, short-tempered, patient, studious, good at athletics, etc. All of such things and numerous more, to a certain degree, are defined in that single percentage of the genome.
And it is different for each of us because we inherit this 0.1% directly from our heirloom, our parents!.
When our cells start forming in the womb, in the fetal stages, it evidently receives the set of chromosomes, DNA, and in turn, the genome of both the sperm-provider and the egg-producer. While only the dominant out of these sets show on your body in the end, we each get a combination of genes from both of our parents (Technically half from our mother and father each). That is how we inherit genes. [1]
For this very reason, it has been long seen that in a family line of doctors, the next offspring is most likely to become one, and the same can be said for many professions and businesses combined.
“But this isn’t true for all!” you may argue.
“What about the exceptions?” you will ask. “What about those who are different, have different aspirations than their parents, are good at different things than their long family line suggests, have different nature than it should be inherited to them?”
“When genes define each aspect of who we are, how would you define such scenarios?”
“I am glad you asked,” I would smile. Because here we find out that, as integral as genes are in defining who we are and what we might become, they aren’t the only contenders.
In comes the ring, character.
Now, what is this “character”?
Here, we would be discussing specifically character traits, that are generally of two kinds: Inherited and Acquired. [4]
Since Inherited traits are solely dependent on our genes which are passed on from generation to generation, the real contender is Acquired traits.
As the name clearly suggests, any character trait we develop, acquire or learn throughout the course of our lives comes under its umbrella. It could be anything from swimming, cycling, to learning to play an instrument like a guitar. And by definition, these acquired traits do not pass on to another generation or get inherited in us directly as genes do.
But things get increasingly intertwined and fascinating as we plunge deeper into this argument.
Learning guitar might be an acquired character trait, but how fast we learn it, how professional we become at it, how determined are we at learning it, how successful we can grow, and how much we enjoy music in general, might have a major dependency on our genetic nature rather than acquired.
So, it seems that genes may hold too much power in the end. They look to be winning this match!
Well, the battle is not over yet. Character has one final set to play for the counter. A set of twins.
Wait, what twins? (The experiments)
Yes, twins.
It turns out that not only general people (like myself) are truly captivated by the existence of identical twins, but also professionals — especially in the field of genetic research — are spell-bound by this act of nature. All this enigma is because of one astonishing fact.
Identical twins practically share 100% of their DNA [3]. Their genes are quite identical, the most identical they will ever be to any other in the world. And that brings up an interesting set of questions and findings with it.
Theoretically, a set of twins having the same DNA should have identical tastes, likes, dislikes, make similar decisions under similar circumstances, and if raised in the same household, should have truly similar mannerisms and live identical lives. Yet practically, years of research on the topic have undoubtedly shown otherwise.
Go and ask a mother of such twins and she would be able to tell distinctness between the two in a heartbeat.
One may have an artistic tendency to draw while the other would like to eat sweets. One might have an unending love for adventure while the other would prefer to stay at home. Although it is quite rare, one of the twins could be outspoken (extrovert) and the other an introvert. And similarly, one can be genuinely happy, successful in his life while the other truly depressed, suffering from crippling depression.
Now, why would this be? How could this be? They have practically the same DNA and the same set of genes. What causes this difference then? (Think!)
Yes, you are right!
It is the environment, the personal experiences, and more importantly, the acquired character traits as a result of this that are causing all the fuss [6]. And with this predicament, it seems that character has now gained an upper hand. The ball is again on the genes court. Character is winning!
But is there any other play left to make? This back and forth between genes and character seems rather fruitless, doesn’t it? We still have no definite answer.
It is in times like these, we take a step back and retrospect. We have to ask the all-crucial why.
“Why isn’t there an answer yet? Are we looking at this all wrong? Are we asking the wrong question?”
As a matter of fact, we absolutely are.
So, what is the right question? (The conclusion)
All of our findings throughout hundreds of years point to a single truth.
There was never a battle. It was never Genes vs Character or Nature vs Nurture. It is nature and nurture, genes and character. The dependency between them now seems fairly obvious.
Genes are nothing but a set of instructions bundled together. Without an environment to set them off, they might as well be completely absent from our bodies altogether!
All humans share 99.9% of their genes with one another. Sure, that gives us the same body anatomy like hands, nose, eyes, organs, etc. But our individual experiences, the character that we acquire because of them is what makes each of us so direly different. And the study on twins has proved time and again that even if 2 beings practically possess the same set of genes, only certain environments or experiences would trigger them to life.
One might possess a set of genes responsible for developing an obesity disorder, but it will only trigger once the person develops a habit of ingesting sugary and fatty food combined with an unhealthy lifestyle. One may hold the genes due for inducing extreme depression traits, but it will only set off under certain traumatizing environments or experiences.
And environment can not only trigger a set of already existing genes, but also can fundamentally alter them!
Believe it or not, genes are not rigid instructions set in stone, defining our destiny the moment we are conceived. Instead, they are flexible and can be altered. Our inculcated habits, and our environments can truly change them at their core.
The character traits that we acquire, habits that we develop, all have a habit of clasping onto our genes and passing down to the next generation. A single habit of smoking every day is known to cause such changes that not only you, but multiple generations down the line might become more susceptible to lung cancer. Another example is the existence of a population who are lactose intolerant. This is because those particular genes were passed down by their long ancestors who once lived in a time and place where dairy products were not so commonly used or available. So, their bodies mutated to never develop the necessary gene to break down lactose sugar found in dairy produce [5].
Now, imagine the impact of good habits down the line. If one decides to eat right and take hold of a healthy lifestyle, they are not only ensuring their own life’s betterment, but tons of generations that come after would be more susceptible to follow the same. (It would be embedded in their genes!)
Our acts of kindness, politeness, taking care of others and their well-being, taking good care of our own selves, it all passes down indefinitely to countless generations. We can single-handily influence our future as a whole, and that too quite significantly!
It all starts with one habit.
So, Genes and Character indefinitely go together. The right acts can influence the right environment, and inversely, the right environment can also trigger the right genes. It is a feedback loop. Whether it would be positive or negative, is for our actions to decide.
Now, how would you act after gaining this crucial bit of knowledge? What would you change in your life?
How are you now, today, going to influence the generations of tomorrow, the future?
I would leave it for you to decide.
Our power is infinite. We only need to learn how to wield it.
Sources:
- What are Genes — https://www.genesandhealth.org/genes-your-health/genes-made-easy
- Humans share 99.9 % DNA — https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Genetics-vs-Genomics#:~:text=All%20human%20beings%20are%2099.9,about%20the%20causes%20of%20diseases.
- Identical twins share 100% DNA — https://www.alphabiolabs.co.uk/learning-centre/much-dna-share/
- Acquired and Inherited character — https://byjus.com/questions/differentiate-between-inherited-and-acquired-characters-give-one-example-for-each-type/#:~:text=An%20acquired%20trait%20is%20the,of%20inherited%20traits%20in%20humans.
- TED Talk on Nature and Nurture — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXIW_m0lo0U&t=2s
- Why identical twins become different — https://www.verywellfamily.com/why-are-identical-twins-different-2447125
Thank you so much for reading!
I hope this quintessential post instills grave thought among my readers and makes one realize the life-altering philosophies that seldom hide under the most mundane of things within our daily lives.
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