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Traits & quirks

Eye color, sun sneezes, earwax: the fun, visible genetics that makes you specifically you.

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Traits & quirks

One letter in your DNA decides your earwax (yes, really)

ABCC11 is the rare human trait that works like a Mendel textbook: one variant determines wet or dry earwax, and tags along with body odor. The 2006 discovery, the world map, and the deodorant question.

August 23, 2026 · 2 min read
Traits & quirks

Why you sneeze at the sun (and your friends think you're making it up)

The photic sneeze reflex is real, runs in families, and showed up in one of the first big participant-driven genetic studies. The biology of the ACHOO reflex, with sources.

July 21, 2026 · 2 min read
Traits & quirks

Brown-eyed parents, blue-eyed baby: how eye color really works

Mostly one switch, plus a committee of modifiers. The genetics of eye color, the myth of the impossible blue-eyed child, and one common ancestor.

July 19, 2026 · 2 min read
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