Want to learn the ideas in She Has Her Mother’s Laugh better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh by Carl Zimmer here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Carl Zimmer.

1-Page Summary of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh

Overview

In the past, there have been some interesting theories about how genetics works. For example, in ancient South America, any man who had sex with a woman was considered to be the father of her children. Meanwhile, in Hawaiian culture, cousins are not distinguished from sisters.

As we can see from these diverse examples, heredity is complex and changing. The key points in this passage will give you a deeper understanding of the intersections between science, medicine, culture and history.

There are many historical events in this article. For example, genetics played a role in the downfall of the Habsburg dynasty. Genetics is also responsible for why some people are lactose intolerant and others aren’t.

Big Idea #1: Inheritance is both a cultural construct and a biological process.

When you think of inheritance, what comes to mind? Genes, wealth, status—all these things are part of the concept. Inheritance is a complex idea with biological and cultural implications. The Habsburgs provide an example.

The Habsburgs were a powerful dynasty in the 15th-18th centuries, ruling over an empire that stretched from Austria to Hungary. They maintained their power by passing the throne from father to son upon the death of the father.

Throughout history, genetics has been an important part of how wealth and power are transferred from one generation to the next.

In Western Europe, the Roman system of hereditas was prevalent up until the Middle Ages.

The Renaissance period introduced the idea of blood inheritance. It was believed that intelligence, courage, and other traits were passed down through blood from parent to offspring. Nobles in particular didn’t want to mix their superior blood with others outside their class.

The Habsburgs’ downfall was based on a belief that bloodlines are the most important thing. They tried to keep their bloodline pure by only marrying within it, and they were wrong because genes carry hereditary information and scientists now know that variation is key in avoiding genetic diseases.

The Habsburg dynasty was inbred for centuries and as a result, future generations were born with various genetic disorders. This caused them to have issues reproducing and eventually the family died out.

In the late 1500s, Luis Mercado was appointed court physician. In 1603, he published a book called On Hereditary Diseases. This book argued that physical traits and illnesses could be passed down from one generation to another.

Big Idea #2: The forefather of genetics was a nineteenth-century Austrian monk.

A monk from the nineteenth century had a lot to do with genetics. He was studying plants and trying to figure out their characteristics, but he didn’t know how they worked. His name was Gregor Mendel. He was in Vienna for some sort of training when he returned home and continued his work on hybrid plants. The biologists at the time knew that these plants inherited traits from both parents, but they couldn’t predict which ones would be passed down or explain why this happened.

Gregor Mendel grew 22 varieties of pea plants and cross-pollinated 10,000 peas. He found that the first generation was always yellow. In the second generation, some were green. Likewise, wrinkled with smooth peas or tall with short ones produced similar results. From these results he correctly theorized three principles of genetics: 1) hybrid plants inherit traits from each parent plant; 2) only one trait is expressed (the dominant trait); 3) recessive traits don’t show up in the first generation but do appear in subsequent generations