Expert: Walter Hintz - 8/17/2009

Question
When you have a baby is their ears suppose to look identical to either the moms ears or dad's ears?  How does ear genentics actually work?

Answer
Humans have 23 pair of chromosomes (46) that code for all hereditary factors including the shape of ears.  Now the baby gets half of the 46 from each parent and the pairs may containg genes for different traits. For example the pair may have one gene for free earlobes and one for attached earlobes. Whether the child has free or attached depends upon chance.
A babys ears may look like either the mom or dad or a combination of both