Why do I have webbed toes, my parents don't?

Question

Sure it helps for swimming, but alot of people get freaked out about it. Maybe i should just pursue a swimming career, unless they'll say I have an unfair advantage?

Answer 1

In the womb everyone has webbed fingers and toes. In the 12th week of the pregnancy the fingers and toes begin to separate and become individual fingers and toes and bones begin to harden. Your toes must not have separated properly during this stage in the pregnancy. Also don't worry about other peoples thoughts or impressions of you, you know who you are and what defines you as a person and that is all that matters. :)

Answer 2

Most genes have two copies (alleles). Some genes dominate, and are expressed; others recede and are not expressed (but they are still there)

Webbing between toes must be a recessive trait. Each parent carried an allele of the gene (their genotype = UNWEBBED/webbed) so neither expressed the gene, their phenotype was seperated toes. But when they had a kid, he/she inherited the genotype webbed/webbed, with the phenotype (the expression of the gene) as webbed toes.

The recessive genes can be passed for indefinite hundreds of generations without being lost, or expressed until it meets another copy of itself.

;-)

Answer 3

webbed toes is a recessive trait (ww). Your parents probably each were heterozygous (Ww) and you had a 1/4 chance of being webbed toed. There is the offchance though that it could be a mutation.

Answer 4

Cool. It's just from recessive genes that finally showed up, or something stopped them from separating in your mother's womb.

Answer 5

Because your a alien