Appearance, Genes and Photography

Every living thing has genes that heavily determine its appearance. Humans look like humans because they have human genes. This set of genes makes up an individual person with specific appearance. Do you know how our appearance is controlled by our genes?

Variation refers to the differences which exist between living organism as a result of their genotypes and the environment. Variation in the physical appearance of humans is believed by anthropologist to be an important factor in the development of personality and social relations. Some differences in human appearance are genetic while others are the result of age, disease, and make-up. In humans there are hundreds of features which illustrate variation. Height, body weight, blood group, skin tone, hair colour, eye colour, nose shape, and ear shape are the physiological differences in human physical appearance.

People who are genetically identical share the same facial appearance with their twin brothers and sisters. Hence, identical twins tend to look alike. Apart from that, parents and their children share 50% of their genes. Thus, a son has similar facial appearance either with his mother or father. Down’s syndrome is a relatively common birth defect caused by the presence of an extra chromosome number 21. People with Down’s syndrome usually have a short and stocky body, slanting eyes, broad face and stubby nose. They are usually mentally retarded and are likely to have heart defects. People with a wide array of races also differ widely in physical appearance. A Negro, for example, has darker complexion like the westerners living in the temperate climate. Malays have brown complexion while the Chinese are commonly referred as “yellow” people.

How the things can be recorded on films? Photography is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium such as a film or electronic sensor. Photography provides an important photographic documentation of different facial appearance. Pictures can be used for comparison and documenting different facial features and similarities among people with different ethnic, country of origin, and genetic combination.

In the nutshell, variation enables each individual to be different from others. In Malaysia, there is a need for peaceful coexistence among the various ethnic groups. Treating people with respect, regardless of their cultures, languages, races and backgrounds, makes this country a better place to live in. Therefore, as civic-minded people, we should treat other people the way we would like them to treat us.