Well, this may seem like an odd question but it has bugged me for a while. I'm not so au fais with Biology, Genetics and the like so would appreciate it if someone could enlighten me. They say that every person is different and that all humans are 99.99% alike, I don't know if that is a true estimate. But within races, for there to actually be races, that is for people to be distinguishable as being Black, White, Chinese etc..wtih their own set of unique, discernable features there must be SOMETHING in the genes unique to each race which defines them - which gives them the physical traits that they possess as a race (such as curly hair or dark/light skin) and seperates samples of Human DNA from different races.
What is it?
2007-12-19 21:19:18 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Don't forget your brain is hypersensitve to differences between people. How many people can you recognise as separate individuals, it must be hundreds if not thousands. The characteristics which visually identify "races" are actually a tiny part of the overall information required to make up a human body. Other DNA which codes for things you can't see varies as well, therefore the variation between people of the same "race" can be as great that between "races"
2007-12-19 23:54:23 · answer #1 · answered by Skiərkæ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some of the differences are related to climate as others have said. The biggest, probably the skin color differences. As people moved from Africa to the northern climes, they didn't get as much sun in winter. Sun is essential to make the body produce vitamin D. Lighter skin absorbs more sunshine. Thus, people with slightly lighter skin had a better survival rate (and produced more offspring who inherited the same trait) as they migrated north.
Other things came about because populations separated. This is as simple as looking at your own cousins and seeing that they don't look exactly like you. If they moved off and were isolated from your own population, 50 generations later there would be very little family resemlences between ever more distant "cousins".
2007-12-20 01:30:04 · answer #2 · answered by Joan H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All these races are determined by genes....even though we are 99.99% similar...the differences arrive when it comes to our ancestors...who developed certain features to overcome the climate and conditions of da particular place....if u see...africans are black becuase thier skin produces a lot of melanin and it is useful in their case as they live on equater where there is more concentrated UV rays.....and melanin helps with the absorption of UV rays...so diff. features develpo according to the places peolpe oiginate from....i hope this helped....
2007-12-19 22:11:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is something in the genes - there are alleles that are expressed due to adaptation to climate. These alleles determine the level of body fat (short and squat for Inuit, tall and lean for Tutsi), skin colour, and a host of other regional adaptations. 'Races' look different due to adaptation to climate
2007-12-19 21:25:40 · answer #4 · answered by attakkdog 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋