Do Your Kid Looks Like You?

Does your child look the same or different from you? Have you seen some children born with the exact appearance of their mother or father? Likewise, other children have completely different features than their parents. And some kids show the features of both mom and dad. Other children exhibit external attributes of their parents such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. For what reasons, do kids have the same or different characteristics from their parents? Kids tend to look like their parents due to genetics. Let us now consider how children show similar and dissimilar traits to their parents due to genetics. Here we go;

Why do babies look like their parents?

Children often take the shape of their parents due to different genetic traits. These genes transmit genetic information from generation to generation. When some of the genes of the parents come to the kids, they often show the same characteristics as the parents. Now let’s see more information. 

Genes and inheritance

Each person has a unique DNA. That DNA contains genes. The genes are the basic unit of heredity. A strand of human DNA contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. In a pair of genes, one gene is inherited from the mother, and the other is from the father. 

Each parent inherits half of their DNA from their kids. DNA carries genes from generation to generation. These genes determine more features such as eye color, hair type, skin color, hair color, ear shape, and more. Therefore, a combination of parent’s genes creates a kid’s unique appearance. Due to this condition, many kids look like a combination of their mother’s and father’s features. 

Dominance and recessive traits

Genes come in different forms called alleles. A child receives one allele from each parent for each trait. For example, there is an allele that determines the characteristics of eye color, hair color, hair type, height, etc. The combination of these alleles determines how a trait is expressed. There are two types of alleles. They are,

1. Dominant alleles 
2. Recessive alleles

Some traits are controlled by dominant genes. That is, even if the gene passes through only one parent, the child’s appearance is more likely to manifest those characteristics. Dominant alleles mask recessive alleles. That is, if one parent succeeds in passing on a dominant gene such as brown eyes, the child is likely to show brown eyes. Other traits are recessive due to dominant alleles. This means that both parents must pass on the same gene to show more similar traits in the child. However, if both parents pass on a recessive allele, the child may show the recessive trait. 

Facial features

Is your baby’s nose like yours? The features of the face such as the shape of the nose, the shape of the eyes, the shape of the face, etc are determined by special genes. Offsprings inherit these traits in such a way that they resemble both parents. Many physical characteristics like face shape, height, skin color, etc are determined by multiple genes(polygenic traits). These traits are a combination of genes from both parents. Then the children are often born with a mixture of the parent’s characteristics. 

Blending of traits

Blending traits are the combination of physical traits of both parents in offspring. This is called genetic recombination. The process of genetic recombination means that some features are a mixture of both parents, while others can be expressed from only one parent. This is why children of the same parent couple show different characteristics. Ex; A brown-eyed father and blue-eyed mother produce a light brown-eyed baby. 

During sexual reproduction, the genetic fluid of both parents is combined to form a new combination of alleles. This happens during the meiosis stage. The process is called crossing over. Here, the parts of chromosomes are exchanged. Recombination shuffles the genetic materials. Hence, it produces offspring with unique genetic combinations. It will help for genetic diversity. 

Random genetic variations

Random genetic variations are the variations in the genetic fluid (DNA) between individuals without any specific direction or purpose. There is randomness in the combination of genes. Children usually have the same characteristics as their parents. However, due to the random mixing of genetic material during reproduction, siblings can differ from each other. 

Epigenetics and environmental factors

Epigenetics is the way genes are expressed. Likewise, epigenetics can be influenced by the environment. The genetic code that determines genetic traits is fixed. Factors such as nutrition, stress, and health can affect how certain genes are turned on or off. These conditions affect the growth and appearance of the children over time. 

What’s more?

Some children are born with their grandparent’s traits rather than their parents. And some kids have the same characteristics as their parent’s siblings. The reason for this is that genes that store genetic information can pass from one generation to the next. Hence, the characteristics of those who passed away several generations ago can be inherited by the new generation. 

Conclusion 

Most children have the same characteristics as their parents. Genetically it happens that way. Genes with traits from parents are passed on to children. Hence, kids are born with traits that are similar to their parents. As previously mentioned, the mother gives 50% of her genes and the father provides 50% of his genes to their kids. Therefore, the children carry the features of the mother as well as the father. Thus, a combination of mother’s and father’s characteristics can be seen in the children. 

Also, dominant alleles for a trait in the parents cause those traits in the children. Because dominant alleles suppress other recessive alleles, recessive traits are less likely to occur in offspring. However, if a recessive allele is passed down from the mother and the father to the baby, it will be displayed in the child. Also, blending traits and polygenic traits help to inherit the characteristics of parents to kids. Do you want more details about the topic? You can refer to more genetics-based research papers. Try to understand why your child was born like you.