Inherited genetic traits

[Sylviaann]

According to Gene Detectives we can inherit a lot of "interesting" traits

Can you tap your head and rub your tummy at the same time?
Can you make your nostrils flare?
Can you curl your tongue or touch your nose with your tongue?
When you clasp your hands is your right thumb on top, or your left one?

These are some of the inherited traits.

I can lift one eybrow, flare my nostrels and tap and rub. 
When I clasp my hands my left thumb is on top.  Apparently only 25% of the population does this.

I cannot curl my tongue.

Pity there is no-one left for me to ask if any of this is inherited but maybe you can check out your  family. 

By the way my son-in-law can wiggle his ears.

Sylviaann

[julianb]

By the way my son-in-law can wiggle his ears.

So can I and my brother, and my father before us.  My brother's two children can also, and there are the first signs that my daughter will too.  We are unsure whether this all came from my father's mother or father.

JULIAN

[alllegs]

Sylviaann,

Maybe you are related to me - when I cross my hands my left thumb goes on top too!

However, it could mean that I'm not related to my parents as both of them cross right thumb over left which feels really weird to me.....

Hmmmm......

Legs
xxxxx

[wheeldon]

I remember a class experiment in Biology (mid 1980s)

A percentage of the class could roll their tongues and some couldn't.

Also we were given a droplet of a liquid to taste, I couldn't taste anything but some of the class were spitting it out as if it tasted of Marmite

The lesson was all about genes - I've no idea what the liquid was, perhaps a RootsChat biologist can help

[Koromo]

As I understand it, many of these traits are to do with dominant or recessive genes, like hair colour, eye colour, etc.

Fair/blonde hair and blue/grey/hazel eyes are recessive traits (like my father). If both parents carry the recessive gene, then the children will also.

If only one parent carries the gene, then all (some?) of the children will have the dominant traits of dark hair and brown eyes (like my mother).

And now I've confused myself. My three siblings have dark hair and brown eyes. I have fair/blonde hair and grey/blue eyes ... and I can wiggle my ears, raise either eyebrow independently, flair my nostrils and curl my tongue, and my left thumb is uppermost when clasping hands.

Uh ... mother? No! I don't believe it! 

K.
 

[XPhile2868]

I can do the tongue rolling thing.

My family all seem to have the same physical traits - black or dark brown hair with blue eyes.


Stephen

[Lemontree]

By the way my son-in-law can wiggle his ears.

My daughter can wiggle her ears,  and so could her great maternal grandfather

My other daughter can touch her nose with the tip of her tounge, and so could her maternal grandmother

Whereas me - I can't do either...

Lemon

[Nutty1966]

Can't wiggle my ears but I can dislocate my thumbs, as can my youngest son  , no one else in our family can do this, makes my hubby feel ill when we do it 


Jane

[Lydart]

I've got one thumb dislocator daughter (ugh !)

Me ... the hand clasp thing ... I put left thumb over right thumb AND right fore-finger, then they go left fore-finger, right, left, etc... so I have two digits on right hand together under left thumb ... (heck, a picture is worth a thousand words they say !)

I can tongue roll, raise eye-brows independently, rub tummy whilst patting head, and the one they quoted on the site Guy listed on the Gene Detectives thread, about putting one arm over shoulder, the other under and round the back, to clasp hands behind back ... I can do !

Maybe this is what they call womens ability to multi-task ?