but that's not always the case.

So, who should you be blaming over those traits you don't like?

What did you inherit from Mom and what came from Dad?

Colour-blind?

If you're a male, you can thank your mother.

Red-green colour blindness is an X-linked disorder that

affects nearly 6% of the male population worldwide, but only 0.4% of females.

This is because males only inherit one X chromosome, which is from their mother,

and that's where red-green colorblindness comes from.

If you're a female, you have to get a the X-variant from both parents.

So that 0.4% can blame dad as well!

Balding?

A big component comes from the X-chromosome here too,

so you likely inherited this from your mom.

However, a study involving 52,000 people found that genes on other chromosomes can

affect this condition, on top of environmental factors such as age, stress, and diet -

so mom isn't entirely to blame!

Research has also found that the shape of the end of your nose, the area above and below the lips,

cheekbones and the inner corner of the eye are highly influenced by genetics.

And interestingly, the more they resemble your father as a child,

the healthier you're likely to be.

Why?

Scientists believe that a father-child resemblance causes fathers to spend more time engaging

in positive parenting, which ultimately contributes to healthier kids.

Now, even though you get half of your 46 chromosomes from mom and the other from dad,

a study involving genetically diverse mice found that

for 60% of genes the paternal copy was more active than the maternal copy.

This phenomenon is known as allelic imbalance.

The same study also noted that the brains of these particular mice more closely resembled

that of their dad than their mom.

However, in humans we actually see the opposite.

Our brains are more similar to our mother, which is particularly true for daughters.

Interestingly, the similar brain regions are actually associated with depressive conditions,

suggesting that mood disorders may pass from mother to daughter.

Biologists used to believe that all DNA came from the nucleus, but we now know that the

mitochondria (AKA the powerhouse of the cell) also kicks in some protein coding genes.

And this mitochondrial DNA is specifically inherited from your mom because

your dad's degraded immediately after fertilization.

Considering how important mitochondrial DNA is in the cell,

there is a stronger maternal link.

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA have been associated with Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease

- which more likely came from your mom.

Maternal inheritance gave rise to the idea of a “Mitochondrial Eve”,

a woman who lived between 180,000 to 580,000 years ago

from which all human mitochondrial DNA is rooted.

At the end of the day, it may seem like a lot of traits actually come from your mom,

or at least, from the X chromosome - and that's generally true, genetically.

The Y-chromosome is very small, and doesn't contain as many genes;

and both females and males contain X-chromosomes, which carry more genes.

But as we continue to research more about ourselves at the genetic level,

the division between what you got from mom vs. dad may become even more pronounced.

If you want to know more about your own genetics,

you can visit 23andMe.com/asap, who sponsored this episode.

Whether you want to know about your chances of balding, back hair, your taste senses work or

where your ancestors came from, 23andMe's kit will get you started.

We both took the test, and I found out the GREAT news that

I have higher likelihood of having a little upper back hair,

which until recently I thought was FALSE, but as I've aged Greg told me that it is happening.

He's almost 30 and it's sprouted, so 23andMe was on that.

What I thought it's interesting is that you can find out how certain factors affect your weight.

Like for me fast food is likely to have the biggest impact on my weight followed by exercise.

Be sure to head to 23andMe.com/asap for the latest promotion on your kit.

As always, thanks for watching, make sure you subscribe

for more weekly science videos every Thursday, and we will see you next time!