The Science Behind Who We Are

Adults often find themselves faced with curious questions from children, one of the most common being, "Where do babies come from?" While the simplest response is that babies begin when an egg and a sperm unite, the process is far more intricate than that. Throughout history, scientists have delved into this subject, gradually unraveling its complexities. You might already know that you originated from your parents and that most individuals bear some resemblance to both their mother and father. However, science aids us in comprehending the fascinating aspects that contribute to shaping individuals, both internally and externally.

Consider your surroundings within a classroom. What do you observe? Among your peers, you may notice friends, teammates, and even unfamiliar faces. Each of you possesses distinct hair colors, heights, and preferences for food and games. However, despite your differences, all of you are children who have emerged from parents. Although most people use the term "children," scientists utilize another word to describe living beings that come into existence through parental origins. Offspring refers to these new living entities that have one or more parents. While certain organisms like plants can originate from a single parent, human beings are unique in that they require the participation of both a mother and a father to create each child.

You may have noticed the ways in which you resemble your parents. Perhaps you inherited dark hair from your mother or brown eyes from your father. If your grandmother is tall, you might grow to be tall as well. While you may resemble your mother in certain aspects, you may differ from her in other ways. The reason behind not resembling just one parent entirely is that you inherit traits from both parents. Both of your parents contribute to shaping who you are. You are undeniably your own person, but it is more probable for you to resemble your parents and even their parents, rather than any other individual worldwide. This is because all your traits were passed down from your parents, who received their traits from their parents, and so on. This process of traits being passed down from parents to offspring is known as heredity.

But how do our parents actually transmit traits like hair color and eye color to us? Imagine a lengthy, thin piece of paper stretching across your classroom. Write down everything about yourself on that paper. It encompasses every aspect of your being, including instructions for constructing each part. Now, envision rolling up that piece of paper and placing it inside a small bag. Within that tiny bag lies all the information that defines who you are. Every cell in your body, whether it be skin cells, blood cells, or eye cells, is akin to a bag containing the piece of paper. Each cell possesses these written instructions stored within.

Your mother's egg cells and your father's sperm cells also carry these instructions within them. However, each of these cells holds only half of the instructions that define their identity. When one of your father's sperm cells merges with one of your mother's egg cells, each contributes half of their instructions, resulting in your creation. Even though you are an entirely new individual, you bear one half of the instructions from each of your parents. This is why you resemble them so closely. These instructions are known as genes, and they determine the physical characteristics our bodies will exhibit.

For every single aspect of our being, there exists a gene that determines its appearance. If you have brown hair, it is because the genetic codes for hair color that you received from each parent combined to produce the color brown. This principle applies to features that will develop later on, such as the appearance of your teeth or the ultimate size of your feet. You may not know your exact height when you grow up, but your genes already contain the instructions for it even before you were born!

Now, contemplate how your school came into existence. It did not simply materialize out of thin air. It required time and planning. Someone began by creating drawings that depicted the necessary components and their placements within the building. These drawings were then handed over to individuals who gathered the required materials for construction. The builders relied on the drawings and measurements to determine the building's dimensions, number of floors, and room sizes.

Every single part of the building is interconnected. Similarly, you arrived in this world equipped with a set of plans and instructions that harmoniously work together to shape your being. Instructions dictate how something is constructed and how it functions, just like genes do for our bodies. Every detail concerning your formation resides within you, and it was bestowed upon you by your parents. Therefore, if you ever ponder how large your ears might grow or why your hair possesses a curly texture, simply look to your family. Your body acquired these instructions from them!