Nature or Nurture?

Today, genetic engineering has verified the long unsupported claim about the genes being the foundations of expression of all of the characters of the organism. It is however also true that influence is also held in matters of expression of those characters by the environmental conditions one grows in. Two homozygotic twins, i. e the siblings with the same genetic makeup will have different characters when they are raised in different surroundings. Therefore, I personally believe that Nurture as well as Nature plays a part in affecting ones character and its expression.

It is well known that the entire genetic makeup of the organism is stored in the form of randomly organised codes-called the genetic codes. Basically, from the colour of your skin to the colour of your eyes, from the way you speak to what behavioural characteristics you display-everything has already been programmed in your genetic makeup. The code; however has been eluding the geneticists for centuries, for it is the most difficult secret code to decipher. It is also known that any sudden change in the basic structural organisation of the genes will result in spontaneously induced mutations. The colour of skin, for instance, has been found to change when the lab rat is exposed to mutagens. The totipotency of the cells has been restored in some reptiles after they have been exposed to X-Rays for some time. Sudden strength, increased vigour, better reflexes are the qualities that have been induced in the organisms through mutation; thus ascertaining the claim for the genes to be the storage unit of the information about the characters of a person.

Two twins born from the same zygote have ditto genetic makeup. However, it is also true that the characters seen in these children in their later life differ from one another, suggesting that the ambience where these children grew up also influences the expression of the characters to a great extent. About two decades ago, researchers in USA performed an experiment in which one of the two homozygotic twins was kept aloof from the world while the other was given a normal life. the first child, secluded from the world, lived in a dark room with no interaction to other human beings except for an occasional cough or sneeze made by the person bringing it food two times a day; the other child lived a normal child’s life. After some years, it was seen that the child that was secluded in a room failed almost entirely to show any signs of civil etiquette characteristic of human beings while the other child grew up into a normal boy. Thus, it was shown scientifically that it is the environment of the organism that greatly influences the character-expression.

Thus, the adage-“the baby’s mind is plastic” is completely true. No matter what is programmed into the baby during the fertilisation process, it is the environment that he grows up in that shapes up its mind. Raising it in a family of loafers will result it also turning into a loafer. An educated family will provide a good ambience for the baby to become interested in learning beginning at an early age. Valmiki, the great sage of the Hindu Rastra, had initially been a crook. He, as a child, had been kidnapped by a gang of gangsters and had grown up to become a crook in the eyes of law. Many great erudite people history often tells us of became so great because they had a good atmosphere when they grew up. Many rogues are from the slums because their families were unable to provide them with proper education and basic necessities. Therefore, a person’s character is best shaped when he is a child and the environment he grows up in influences this to the greatest extent. Keeping the child in a room of hooligans will give you a hooligan, no questions asked.