00:00Maybe you get your nose from your mom's side of the family, but your ears
00:04definitely look more like dad's. Everyone gets a spattering of both of
00:09their parents' DNA, but which parent contributes more to the child, genetically
00:14speaking? Well, the answer to this question depends on what you're asking.
00:19If we're talking about chromosomes, which are DNA strands packaged as X and Y
00:24shaped molecules, children get an equal number from both parents. But the
00:30mitochondria, the so-called powerhouse of the cell, carries its own DNA and we only
00:36inherit that from our mother's side. Because of this, technically, kids inherit
00:41more genes from mom in terms of sheer numbers. But just because you carry
00:46certain genes doesn't mean they're all turned on, so to speak. Chemical switches
00:52sit on top of our DNA and tell our body which portions to read and translate
00:57into proteins, and which portions to ignore. Some of these switches can be
01:02passed down by parents to their children. These are called imprinted genes. For
01:08example, if a gene is paternally imprinted and dad passes it down, that gene will be
01:14switched off in the child. But if the child gets that gene from mom, it will
01:20remain switched on. Studies in mice hint that more imprinted genes may be passed
01:26down from dad's side. But that same imbalance hasn't been seen in humans yet.
01:31In any case, many other factors, such as your environment, influence which genes get
01:36turned on or off in your body. You can say your gene expression is thanks to your
01:42parents, but it's complicated to say that it's similar to your parents, an expert told
01:46live science. In short, it's complicated.
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