Left or Right Handedness Might Be Genetic
- 11 years ago
Somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of the world’s population is left-handed, so most people are right hand dominant, but there is no scientific explanation for why this is the case. A new study from researchers at the University of Oxford in England shows that one of the factors behind which hand is dominant might be genetic.
Have you ever wondered why some people are left handed and others are right handed?
Somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of the world’s population is left-handed, so most people are right hand dominant, but there is no scientific explanation for why this is the case.
A new study from researchers at the University of Oxford in England shows that one of the factors behind which hand is dominant might be genetic.
Co-author of the study William Brandler, a genetics doctoral candidate from the University of Oxford said: “Handedness is a complex trait, there are hundreds of genes involved. There are also lots of environmental influences.”
The researchers studied a subject group of 728 people, and asking them to move pegs with either hand to determine which of their hands was dominant.
Then they compared the subject’s genes to see if there were any significant correlations.
Several genetic similarities were present in subjects with the same hand dominance, particularly PCSK6 which is responsible for creating left and right parts in the fetus, as well as other genes that determine where organs in the body are placed.
The researchers conducted the same test with an even larger subject group of over 25 hundred people and confirmed the results.
Have you ever wondered why some people are left handed and others are right handed?
Somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of the world’s population is left-handed, so most people are right hand dominant, but there is no scientific explanation for why this is the case.
A new study from researchers at the University of Oxford in England shows that one of the factors behind which hand is dominant might be genetic.
Co-author of the study William Brandler, a genetics doctoral candidate from the University of Oxford said: “Handedness is a complex trait, there are hundreds of genes involved. There are also lots of environmental influences.”
The researchers studied a subject group of 728 people, and asking them to move pegs with either hand to determine which of their hands was dominant.
Then they compared the subject’s genes to see if there were any significant correlations.
Several genetic similarities were present in subjects with the same hand dominance, particularly PCSK6 which is responsible for creating left and right parts in the fetus, as well as other genes that determine where organs in the body are placed.
The researchers conducted the same test with an even larger subject group of over 25 hundred people and confirmed the results.