People Tend To Take After Their Dads More Than Their Moms, Study Finds

Yes, each parent contributes the same amount of genetic material to a child. However, it appears that the father's contribution tends to play a more dominant role when it comes to genes expressing themselves.

"So imagine that a certain kind of mutation is bad. If inherited from the mother, the gene wouldn't be expressed as much as it would be if it were inherited from the father," researcher Pardo-Manuel de Villena explained to Science Daily. "So, the same bad mutation would have different consequences in disease if it were inherited from the mother or from the father."

One big one is whether a child is born male or female. The determining factor is whether a father's contribution carries an X chromosome, which would make the child female, or a Y chromosome, making the child a male. But according to a Newcastle University study, checking out a dad's family tree can provide some hints.

So, prospective dads out there, if you have many brothers, you're more likely to have sons. If you have sisters, you're more likely to have daughters, too.

As a study published in the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology found, fertility issues may pass from father to son. It's not 100% confirmed that that's the case, but boys conceived via IVF are more likely to have low-quality swimmers compared to those conceived in families without sperm quality issues.

Specifically, fathers with schizophrenia, hyperactivity disorder, or attention deficit disorder are more likely to pass those along to their kids, according to a study published in JAMA Psychology.

What's more, as men age, their sperm can gain more mutations, which can increase the risk of their children developing adverse mental health issues.

Or at least similar dental bills. Things like tooth size and position, as well as jaw shape, tend to come from both parents, but as with so many other traits, the father's genes can be expressed more dominantly.

Research at Britain's Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital showed that tall dads tended to have longer babies.

While ultimately how tall a child will grow to be will be determined by environmental factors as well, at least initially, height comes from the father, and those tall dads give their kids a leg up.