Everyone has traits that make us who we are.
每个人都有塑造我们独特个性的特性。
We have physical traits, like red hair, long legs and funny-looking toes.
我们有身体特征，比如红头发、长腿和长相奇特的脚趾。
We also have character traits including humor, warmth, creativity and so on.
我们也有性格特征，包括幽默感、热情、创造力等等。
Certain physical traits are fully inherited, such as blue eyes and knobby knees.
某些身体特征是完全遗传的，例如蓝眼睛和突出的膝盖骨。
About 25,000 to 35,000 genes are in a single cell in the human body.
人体的单个细胞中大约含有25,000到35,000个基因。
These genes carry the traits that are passed down genetically from parents to their children.
这些基因携带着从父母遗传给孩子的特征。
Many traits exist between inheritance and development — the interaction with environment.
许多特征介于遗传与后天发育之间，即与环境的相互作用之中。
One example is body shape.
体型就是一个例子。
It tends to be passed down from parents.
它往往是从父母那里遗传下来的。
But once diet becomes a factor, environment begins to play an important role in how the body develops.
但一旦饮食成为影响因素，环境就开始在身体发育过程中发挥重要作用。
Body shape is a trait that is a mixture of inheritance from parents and influence of environment.
体型是一种混合了父母遗传和环境影响的特征。
So lots of our most important traits have been learned, rather than inherited.
因此，我们许多最重要的特征是后天习得的，而非遗传的。
For example, if you’re really great at video games, it’s not because your parents passed down the skills in genes.
例如，如果你非常擅长电子游戏，这并不是因为你父母通过基因把这项技能传给了你。
It’s because you have practiced a lot of video games and developed those skills yourself.
而是因为你进行了大量的练习，自己培养了这些技能。
If you have kids who turn out to be great at video games, it is because they put in the hours, learned the skills, and memorized the moves that are necessary to play the video games well.
如果你的孩子也很擅长电子游戏，那是因为他们投入了大量时间，学习了技巧，并记住了玩好游戏所必需的操作招式。
Of course, some of us have brains that are more advantageous to video game playing.
当然，有些人的大脑结构确实更有利于玩电子游戏。
Say you were born with a large and powerful part of the brain that controls your hand-eye coordination.
假设你天生大脑中控制手眼协调能力的区域就比较大且发达。
That’s inherited.
那是遗传的。
What you do with it, how you choose to develop that advantage, is up to you.
但你如何利用它，如何选择发展这一优势，则取决于你自己。
You can pierce your nose or get a tattoo — it doesn’t matter how much you change your body during the lifetime.
你可以穿鼻环或纹身——无论你在有生之年如何改变自己的身体都无所谓。
None of those things will turn into genetic material to be passed down to the next generation.
这些改变都不会转化为遗传物质传递给下一代。
However, if your children grow up in an environment with role models who are pierced and covered in tattoos, they are more likely to get piercings and tattoos!
然而，如果你的孩子在成长环境中看到榜样人物穿孔或满身纹身，他们就更有可能去穿孔和纹身！
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