Survival of the Politest

After almost three months with Toby, we still can’t figure out who the hell he looks like. Some of his features are sort of Sarah’s, some are sort of mine. Some are sort of both. Take his eyes for example. For the most part, they are more like Sarah’s than mine. But his right eye has more Japanese characteristics than his left eye. It’s a little narrower than its left counterpart, and the fold on his right eyelid is less pronounced. His nose is a little of both of us. The tip of his nose is roundish, like Sarah’s, but his nose is wide, like mine. And he hasn’t even started picking it yet! (Though I have). A principle in genetics is that within each individual, genes from each parent battle it out. For example, genes for growth that are paternally contributed vie for expression against maternal genes that try to suppress growth in utero. But, when we think about how our genes are sculpting Toby’s appearance, I like to imagine his maternal and paternally contributed genes bowing at each other, letting each other express themselves equally (see image by Sarah). Kind of like Japanese society (at least, superficially). I guess that means Sarah is Japanese after all.