"Strong genes"

[PourquoiTuGachesTaVie]

Is this an actual thing? I'm watching married at first sight and one of the experts just said "His face is very symmetrical which is an indicator of very strong genes"

What are weak genes?

Are they talking about dominant and recessive genes or is this some kind of nonsense talking for the sake of talking?

I work in genetic research, and a lot of my work is on craniofacial development.

I can't think of a specific disorder defined by complete symmetry when the face is regularly-featured. I could conceive of disorders where faces with some simple features appear to be overly symmetrical because there isn't as much nuance to generate asymmetry. I hope that makes sense

Ds's features are very cherubic, very round cheeks, distinctive mouth, widely spaced eyes, tipped up nose - I remember when the geneticist said that he had 'dysmorphic features' I wanted to slap her! She followed it up with 'gosh, he is so gorgeous he will break hearts' - luckily escaping the wrath of a doting mother!

I am coming at this from a medical POV, not that of a doting mother, but I really don't see "dysmorphic" as anything to be offended by (or to describe it as "horrid").

It's a medical word that means something deviates from the norm. That's all.

It doesn't necessarily indicate that the feature under examination is "bad". Large eyes (usually a beauty feature) might be considered dysmorphic. Bent little fingers are completely benign but considered "dysmorphic". Obviously, when you analyse different ethnicities, what's dysmorphic for one is common for another. Flat cheekbones, thick lips, widely-spaced eyes, ears that don't have many folds, bent toes, long fingers, all dysmorphic (in some ethnic groups).

It's just a word, not a judgement. And it doesn't mean "ugly". Not by any stretch.

Defensiveness done!

When people say strong genes I assume they mean dominant, with possibly some confusion about inheriting them/ combinations.
Eg in both my family and dds fathers family dark hair/ olive complexions are probably about 1 in 15. So you could say blonde/ fair is the dominant gene. Except scientifically blonde is a recessive gene, it just happens to be strongest in both families because you're more likely not to inherit the other due to its rarity in both heritages.
I also think sometimes people use strong to mean positive qualities you want your offspring to inherit. Dds dad is a tosser, and if I'd been of an age/ background to realise then it's unlikely I'd have thought selecting him to father a child was a good idea. However with hindsight rhe tosser qualities weren't genetic, but the positive qualities were, and combined with my similar positive genetic qualities it's not suprising they are the dominant gene in her.
If perhaps I had decided to reproduce with a pleasant man, with less strong/ positive genetic qualities in the areas mine are, it's less likely she'd have got them from my genes alone.
Hence her actual fathers genes being attractive from the view of wishing to reproduce them or 'strong' without necessarily being dominant in him alone by classification.
The attraction one is interesting, I've always found children with downs incredibly attractive, on average more so than many nt children, even in a photo ( so not just the cuteness factor many children have in person), despite the fact that from a quality of life/ health aspect I know it's not a logical attraction from an evolutionary/ survival point of view.

I hadn't associated strong genes with healthier or better, just dominant physical characteristics.

Maid, I am not sure why there is the need for defensiveness - I understand everything you say, and I never said that I believed it was a judgement on my child, but when you are sat in a geneticists office answering a million questions about your child (mostly about they are not doing or can't do, and their health problems) it is a vulnerable position to be in.

I find a lot of medical professionals don't explain terms before they use them, and can use them without much thought for the families who are in a fairly vulnerable state. This goes for all medical areas, not just genetics, hell i'll never forget the day I was referred to by a consultant as 'the trophoblastic tumour'!!

Some medical terms do have negative connotations - spontaneous abortion for miscarriage for example. Dysmorphic is one of those terms, I think, it comes from the Greek, 'dusmorphia' meaning 'misshapenness, ugliness'. And in the dictionary definition means 'defromity or abnormality'. So whilst I know the geneticist isn't being horrid or offensive (because I'm not an idiot after all - the word might be horrible, but I know the Dr isn't!), it is a word that can punch you in the stomach rather when you are sat there with your beautiful, undiagnosed, every second of the day worry of a 3 year old.

Maid, I am not sure why there is the need for defensiveness

Just a general defence of a perfectly valid medical term! Wasn't an angry rant at all

Dys - abnormal
Morph(ia) - form

It was a slightly tongue in cheek defence. I don't think the medical word is anything to be annoyed about.

I wasn't correcting you, I was developing the idea I've never heard of high symmetry being defined as dysmorphic. However, if that high symmetry is a result of simple features, then those simple features are dysmorphic.

Maid, I don't know your circumstances, but do you not think that it might possibly be upsetting to hear the words dysmorphic features about your child - I know what the word dysmorphic means (the dictionary definition below), and I am not 'annoyed' about a term, but it is upsetting when you just see your (in your eyes) perfect child, and hear a word which means abnormal.

I don't expect the word to be changed, but I do think that geneticists and genetics nurses could explain terms before they use them, in a way which make them easier for a parent to hear - eg, 'Mr and Mrs Hazeyjane, there are certain features that your son has that could be signs of a genetic condition, these features are often referred to as 'dysmorphic'....' rather than, 'Mr and Mrs Hazeyjane, your son has several dysmorphic features...'

I guess I am pretty hardened to them, so could do with some tact myself

That is interesting about the studies, MrsDeVere

I think, especially with language surrounding disability, efforts should be made to think about the language used - so much of the language has negative connotations, and we hear it from the first scans we have in pregnancy - risks, abnormalities, anomalies.

The when your child is born and it becomes apparent there are issues, it is all so abstract and scary. Little things like words matter.

Interestingly I often use abnormal to describe positive qualities, eg x's gift for sport is abnormal, or sideways compliments eg regularly tell dd her pets are abnormal or her love of being outside, both of which she knows I prefer to the normal.
However reading this has made me aware that for all I think its a positive word, I've always been careful to use 'amazing' or similar in circumstances it could be misconstrued. So maybe my connotations aren't as positive as I thought.

yes i agree with you rhere hazey regarding language ds2 diagnosis is primarily asd and learning difficulties with an underlying chromosome disorder i hate the whole high functioning low functioning autism thing i refuse to accept or describe my son as low functioning.