Nature vs Nurture | Genetics | Biology | FuseSchool

CREDITS Animation & Design: Waldi Apollis Narration: Dale Bennett Script: Bethan Parry Have you noticed that you&different to your relations, parents or carers, your next-door neighbour, the kid who lives across the street and everyone else on the planet? In fact you’re unique. But do you really know why you are different? Why are we all different to each other? Why does any organism have different characteristics to another organism? The answer lies in a long running debate called ‘nature versus nurture’, or genetics versus environment, which is a little less catchy! ‘Nature’ refers to our genetics – the unique combination of genes that we have naturally inherited from our biological parents, from their DNA. Many characteristics are controlled by our genes, including our blood group, eye colour or natural hair colour. Some diseases are also caused by our genes, for example cystic fibrosis. The colour of a flower or a fruit is controlled by genes in plants. ‘Nurture’ refers to the effect of the environment on characteristics, the word literally means care. Examples of characteristics that are determined by the environment are weight, or mass, which is dependent on your diet, or the presence of a scar. Some diseases may be caused by environmental influences, such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Imagine that a plant has not received enough sunlight or water. This may influence the height of the plant or the number of fruits produced. We would say that...