--Must See--

Bioinformatics Summer Internship 2024 With Hands-On-Training + Project / Dissertation - 30 Days, 3 Months & 6 Months Duration

People From Different Countries Differ in Looks? Why?

Voice of Biotecnika – Episode 60

What is your skin color?? There might be an easy answer for this, like, brown, black, white, or yellow. But think deeper once! The first thought which might come in your mind about the color is ‘white’ or ‘black’. Really…Is that so? Ask yourself once again! If you put your hand on a blank piece of black or white paper, does your skin still look white or black ? or does it appear more tan or brown? OR

Just by looking at the initial appearance of a person, can you tell from which specific country a person belongs? You will look at their hair, clothes or face shape and can attempt to make a guess at their country of origin before you talk to them.

There is a substantial variation in some human traits! Like hair color, eye color, height, weight, skin color, build, etc. However, variation is observed within other species also.

Have you ever wondered…Why people differ in Looks? Why are people all different colors? What makes skin different colors? Why traits vary so much?? So does the difference have a purpose in

itself? Did we evolve to vary in appearance, and what is the purpose of this variation?

Hello Everyone! Welcome to yet another interesting episode of Podcast– Voice of Biotecnika. Today’s voice is Dr. Ankita and I am going to share some fascinating facts regarding something that each one of you questions to yourself on a daily basis. Guess! Why I am so dark? Why I have thin hair? How I can look smart & beautiful? Today’s topic of my talk is this only- Why people from different countries differ in looks?

People come in all sorts of different colors and traits. Why is that? Firstly, there is the Selectionists view – Long ago, it was noticed that people from different parts of the world often had different skin colors. All you must have noticed that. Tropic people usually had darker skin than people who lived in colder climates. Over time, scientists learned that variations in skin color appeared to be adaptive traits, that passed through genes from parents to their offspring. And you know what…these traits corresponded closely with geography & the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, we can say most traits or demographic patterns of variations exist for some kind of purpose. For example- Why do Scandinavians tend to have blonde hair ?? Blonde hair might be offering some kind of advantage in Scandinavia over the other hair colors. Either a naturally or sexually selected advantage.

Secondly, there is a Neutralists view – Scientist known as Motoo Kimura proposed the natural theory in the 1960s. According to him most variation and traits have evolved by natural processes. Great! Neutralists would argue that the demographic variance we see in humans & of course within animal species, is mainly due to the random Genetic Drift. For example, Scandinavians might be blonde because the humans that colonized Scandinavia were, coincidentally blondes.

In a nutshell, it can be said that – Human variability is attributed to a combination of environmental and genetic sources.

If I say that facial recognition plays a key role in human interactions, it will be not wrong ! There has been a great interest in understanding the evolution of human abilities for individual recognition & tracking social relationships. Right! Nevertheless, the other-race effect is a well-established phenomenon that we’ve known about for a hundred years. All Asiatics look alike, while to the Asiatics, all the White men look alike. Why does this happen ?? The reason can be simple, as we have more experience of members of our own race & so we find it easier to remember their faces. OR other races are generally perceived to have fewer unique personal attributes & therefore to have more in common with one another. Don’t you think these justifications aren’t mutually exclusive?

Let us consider an example of three nationalities, Japan, Korea, and China. People from all three areas look similar or look like Alike. Right! Can you differentiate among people easily ?? NO, But today I will tell you some of the differences among people from these areas. How they differ from each other in their looks? All the differences are based on cultural as well as natural characteristics.

These 3 nationalities are all very different in their origins, which lends weight to the assertion that although they share some traits, they are very different from each other. Japanese have largely originated from southeast Asia & Indonesia. In China, different minorities mix different genetics. It consists of minorities with influence from the Middle East, Russia and Mongolia, Appearances also vary depending on the respective area of China. Lastly, if we talk about Korean people, early settlements in South China and Taiwan can be considered as their point of origin. The languages of these countries are totally different in addition to their origin. So, simply it can be accepted that their appearances have differences too!OR We can say that people from different countries differ in their LOOKS and APPEARANCES.

Though people from Japan, China & Korea share similarities in their skin type and body shape; people may look somewhat similar, but you can easily notice some real & huge differences in their FACIAL FEATURES. Longer & wide face is seen in Japan, prominent jaw & higher cheekbones in Korean people, while the Chinese have a rounder face. There is a difference in their ‘WINDOWS OF THE SOUL’: the eyes also. Bigger & angled downwards in Japanese, Angled upwards in Chinese & smaller eyes in Koreans. Apart from these features, they differ in dressing style & makeup too which adds the extra difference in their overall LOOKS.

Okay, now do you think only above mentioned reasons can be the only cause for the differences in looks of people living in different places or countries?? I missed one important factor. I’ve had the privilege of traveling around some parts of the world and experience different CULTURES. It was very interesting & fascinating to me and at the same time surprising too There are certain standards of beauty around the world. Different rituals are followed in various countries that make people belonging to different parts differ in their looks ! Interesting Right!.

You all know & it’s easy to see that BEAUTY is truly in the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, even if certain beauty practices may seem truly odd. In Bali, women have filed, pointy teeth & large feet; lip and ear-stretching rituals are seen in parts of Africa and South America, different parts of the world and countries follow certain rituals & practices for developing their own and unique appearance/looks.

Being Uniquely you Is Beautiful in all Cultures. Therefore, it doesn’t matter where you come from! No matter what’s your culture! You should remember one thing- What makes you as a Human especially beautiful and attractive is your ability to be Unique and Special.

People differ from each other is obvious. Thoughts, feelings or behavior of an individual is not coded by Genes. Right! Rather they code for proteins that modulate & regulate biological systems. Several studies & reports suggest that specific alleles are related to specific personality traits. Hence, it can be concluded and accepted that differences in traits are under the polygenic influence and are moderated by environmental experience.

As of now, you all could be a ‘SUPER-RECOGNISER’. You all have that powerful ability to minutely identify barely glimpsed human faces. With this particular note, I would like to end my talk with you all. Stop cursing yourself for your looks, you can’t change them now! Right. Though LOOKS MATTERS, Try to be just YOU! Every individual is different in some or the other way. Keep tuned in for another interesting episode of Voice of Biotecnika- Podcast.

Today's Voice of Biotecnika is:
Dr. Ankita Trivedi is a gold medalist & has been honored by former President of India Pranab Mukherjee in 2013. She is currently associated with Biotecnika as an Academic Support Specialist. She has published 3 Research Articles, 5 Research Papers and 1 Book Chapter in various National & International scientific journals. She is very passionate about teaching and loves to guide and inspire her students. She is very optimistic, organized, active and enjoys working with a wide variety of people to achieve a common goal efficiently and realistically.
Perfection is her hobby, Reliability is a synonym, Editing is her passion, Excellence is her Goal, Tactfulness is in her genes, Yellow is her Fav color. Preety is the name of the Professional on whom entire BioTecNika relies when it comes to its website. A Gold Medalist in Biotech from SRM University, Chennai with a 9.9 CGPA ( was awarded the Gold Medal by Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi , as seen in the pic ), She decided to join forces with BioTecNika to ensure India's largest BioSciences Portal expands its reach to every city in India. She has redesigned the new avatar of BioTecNika from scratch and heads the most dynamic, vibrant and well informed Online Team at Biotecnika Info Labs Pvt Ltd