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The famous basketball coach Frank Layden is usually credited with the phrase 'you can't teach height,' which perfectly encapsulates the very concept of a so-called 'genetic win.' Indeed, there are countless things in the world that can be learned - but there are also things that we’re simply born with.
Some of us have a phenomenal memory, some can drink lots of booze without getting drunk, and some at the molecular level exude a smell that repels mosquitoes. Finally, some consider their peculiarity a disadvantage, while for others it’s an absolute 'genetic win.' So now please enjoy this selection of self-proclaimed ‘genetic wins’ from various folks in this online thread!
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#1
As a female, my period is 2.5-3 days every time and is regular AF and I've never had extreme pain that accompanied it. Discomfort, sure, but nothing that has kept me from life.
martymcmatrix 6 months ago
...like in those ads where the blood is light blue and the women enjoy a day at the public pool, participate in some track and field championships, as well as trampoline jumping all day long? 🤔
RELATED:
#2
All my grandparents made it to at least 100.
#3
Being born to my parents. Unconditional love is powerful.
The genome of each of us is absolutely unique (unless you have a twin sibling), and each of us has physical or mental characteristics that do make us special. The only question is how much these “superpowers” stand out against the general background of our lives, and how much they make our lives easier. We can agree, it would be weird, for example, to have excellent night vision - but at the same time go to bed at sunset and wake up at dawn all your life!
#4
Not so much a win for me, but a win for others. I have 0- blood and no diseases, so I can donate to others a lot.
Con O Cuinn 6 months ago
Universal donor but can only receive O- blood themselves. Blessing and a curse.
#5
I don’t get body odor. I still sweat but no matter how much I sweat I don’t smell. My dad is the same way and it infuriates my sister who did not inherit those genes.
MotherofGuineaPigs 6 months ago
I got my fathers sweat genes - like a horse in full lather anytime it's above 75f
#6
Memory
If I see it, it sticks. Made college really easy, but it’s why my biggest fear in life is getting dementia / Alzheimer’s.
Sky Render 6 months ago
Can relate. School was a breeze for me and only my refusal to do homework ever got me in trouble (because I didn't see the point in it). I still have a stupidly sharp memory, much to my wife's annoyance.
By the way, we often “pay” for having any specific innate skills or abilities with the absence of other talents. We don’t need to go far to find an example - let's take me. I have a really excellent text memory - I remember large amounts of information without any problems, I remember facts I heard once a long time ago - but at the same time I have a terrible memory for faces.
In the old days, it was believed that to acquire special abilities, a person, voluntarily or not, “pays” with otherworldly forces - which is why many sorcerers or shamans in fairy tales or legends may not have a limb or grow old sharply after acquiring magical abilities. For example, the Scandinavian god Odin, as we know, gave his own eye in return for wisdom.
#7
Mosquitos go for me only if other people are not around. I'm like last resort.
TheGoodBoi 6 months ago
Lucky, I'm the first the go to. They will fight through any mosquito repellant to get to me...
#8
There's more, but I can feel well rested with just 4-6 hours of sleep. This is due to a genetic mutation present in only 1-3% of the global population.
#9
Thick hair.
Aside from the downside of *millions* of falling hair everyday, my hair stays hella thick.
Lil Miss Hobbit 6 months ago
Same! I love my hair and when it's nice (which it rarely is because thick hair is a LOT to take care of) people compliment me on it all the time.
On the other hand, if you don’t have anything like that, don’t be upset either. Just think about it - the absence of any unpleasant features is already an advantage of sorts. For example, I already wrote that my wife and I both love cats very much, with one significant difference - my wife is allergic to them, and I am not. However, every time I see a cute kitty, I also have to make a difficult but predetermined choice... Well, okay, that wasn’t a successful example!
#10
I'm immune to poison ivy. I don't get a rash.
UncleJohn3000 6 months ago
In scouting, we were playing some sort of capture the flag game. Five of us jumped into a ditch to hide and four of us damn near died of poison ivy. That was also the day that I became the official campsite poison ivy remover, a post I held for years.
#11
I'm a woman. My leg hairs are so light and thin they're barely visible. Never have I shaved my legs.
Edit: never plucked my eyebrows either. They've been in perfect shape since I was born. I have dark eyebrows and eyelashes.
Serena Myers 6 months ago
I get the leg hair, but my invisible leg hair is down to old age! On the minus side, my eyebrows and eyelashes are invisible as well!!
#12
I have highly concentrated taste buds. So I'm classified as a "super" taster. And can discern flavors in just about everything I eat. Same with smells. Probably the reason people say I'm such a good cook. Only 25% of people in the world are super tasters. But I think that's pretty cool.
Ace 6 months ago (edited)
The downside of being a supertaster is that there are many foods that I just cannot abide. Anything bitter, basically, so a lot of veg are borderline, some fruits (e.g. grapefruit) and a lot of drinks. Oh, and goat's cheese, although that's not bitter and may be unrelated to the supertaster thing, idk.
By the way, do you know what unique superpower you may also have? I’ll tell you: this special ability is to scroll the list to the end and write an interesting comment. Yes, that’s a superpower too! So let's check if you have this superpower! Why not, right?
#13
Good teeth! Didn't have dental insurance for 7 years, went to dentist, she complimented me on having good strong teeth! Its good genes because I only started flossing at age 40.
AtMostAFabulist 6 months ago
You are very lucky. I have hit an age where my teeth are cracking. I don't recommend ot.
#14
One I like to flex is I have no allergies 😌
Edit*
Okay, yet. I have no allergies yet 😭 so far in my 28 years. I've been lucky 😌.
AtMostAFabulist 6 months ago
I have adult onset allergies. They started when I was about 35. They get worse over time.
#15
Literally got the results back today from a fertility panel that screens for almost 500 disorders and gene mutations and I carry NONE OF THEM. Doc said it’s super rare to not carry even a few recessive issues. Pretty neat! Got to tell my parents they made a near perfect human ;)
Edit to add for everyone: it’s a panel from Natera. You ask your OB or a Genetic Counselor (or geneticist) to order it. Some insurances cover it. Others don’t. I think we’ll end up paying $300 per person for ours. It’s a blood draw and it gets sent to their lab in CA.
Edit 2: please stop telling me to procreate. That’s why we got the testing done. And stop telling me to be an egg donor. Not something that I’m remotely interested in.
Lil Miss Hobbit 6 months ago
The edits are so funny. Like of course the internet told her to have kids and be an egg donor.🤣
#16
Eyelashes. I don't use Mascara because they are so long. .
#17
Both my mother and grandmother had breast and uterine cancer (which they recovered from, thankfully). Due to my family history my primary care provider tested me for the breast cancer genes, and I don't have them! Woohoo!
[Edit: thank you all for your concern. I still get screened. My mother tested positive for the genes and I did not. I know there are other types of breast/uterine cancers and my risk is not zero. I am just happy I have a lower risk of that particular family curse.].
Foxglove🇮🇪 6 months ago
My mum had breast cancer twice, 10 years apart - triple negative so genetic testing is of limited benefit.
#18
Lol I inherited lots of genetic losses but one win is my body type - I've always looked athletic (thin with moderate muscle mass) even when I've been extremely out of shape.
#20
My genetic flex is great skin. I appreciate it all the time and wish I could brag, lol.
#22
I’m a twin and my twin is like the other half of my heart. I would feel so lost without that connection, and I’m so grateful.
#24
Low (not abnormally…) blood pressure.
MotherofGuineaPigs 6 months ago
same - however they freak out when they take my resting pulse - 100 / 110
#26
Strong immune system I guess. I barely get ill even though my lifestyle is really unhealthy. Also never got COVID but idk if you can be naturally immune to that, studies are inconclusive as far as I know.
#27
I have zero recovery period after spicy times. I just stay ready.
jeffrey champion 6 months ago
This entry has -1 votes at the time of writing, is it because people don't like the post, or they're envious?
#28
I’ve never had a nosebleed in my life! (Not sure how common or uncommon that is tbh).
Serena Myers 6 months ago
Neither have I. Nor migraines or headaches. My old mum used to say "Where there's no sense, there's no feeling" which might have something to do with it. Lol.
#29
Calves. I have naturally muscular and shapely calves and I don’t even work them.
Con O Cuinn 6 months ago
If OP is overweight, that could also be why. Fat people tend to have jacked calves from lugging our lard asses around.
#31
I can eat really unhealthy and a lot and not gain weight.
#33
I’m decently healthy both physically and mentally. Granted I’m only 40 so I’ve got some years ahead of me so that will probably change, but right now I feel like I’m in the minority among friends and close coworkers that I am not on prescription meds for anything.
#34
Natural muscle size and strength. I’ve been gifted.
Lil Miss Hobbit 6 months ago
My brother, haha. His bicep is the size of a dinner plate and he has never lifted.
What do you think ?
Mr. Jones 6 months ago
I won't test this theory, but I was ridiculously reckless in my 20s and 30s when it came to sex. I'm gay and had a huge chip on my shoulder. When I smartened up in my mid 30s, I went to my doctor and asked him to test me for every STD known to man. I was worried AF. I was convinced I was HIV+ because I knew what I had done. My results came back clean as a whistle. So I went to a local health clinic and again clean as a whistle. I went back to my doctor and told him there was no way I was HIV-. He told me there is a very small percentage of people who are immune to it and they don't know why. I won't test it though. Happily married and monogamous. I met one other guy who was told the same thing. I always wondered why they didn't test our blood for a possible vaccine.
Grenelda Thurber 6 months ago
I had an acquaintance who was HIV+ for 20 years (80's&90's, before effective treatment) and never had any symptoms. He said he'd probably had an entire body's worth of blood drawn over those years. Everybody wanted wanted to study his blood. We lost touch, not sure where he is now.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 6 months ago
I have a "photographic memory". Well, there's no such thing actually, but I have a really good memory. When I was a child at school I could remember answers by picturing the page the work was on. It's ironic that I have trouble with faces, but once I remember you, I will be able to tell you all sorts of things we did that you've forgotten. I've had kids I taught come up to me, and they had to tell me who they were, but once they did, I could tell them where they sat in my class, anything interesting they said or did ("You drew a cartoon of me teaching about the Titanic!" "You asked me what an ystervark was in English and I said an iron pig!") and even sometimes what their marks were. But I would not be able to pick them out of a lineup!
Katchen 6 months ago
I also have a good memory but am terrible with faces. Huh.
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Mr. Jones 6 months ago
I won't test this theory, but I was ridiculously reckless in my 20s and 30s when it came to sex. I'm gay and had a huge chip on my shoulder. When I smartened up in my mid 30s, I went to my doctor and asked him to test me for every STD known to man. I was worried AF. I was convinced I was HIV+ because I knew what I had done. My results came back clean as a whistle. So I went to a local health clinic and again clean as a whistle. I went back to my doctor and told him there was no way I was HIV-. He told me there is a very small percentage of people who are immune to it and they don't know why. I won't test it though. Happily married and monogamous. I met one other guy who was told the same thing. I always wondered why they didn't test our blood for a possible vaccine.
Grenelda Thurber 6 months ago
I had an acquaintance who was HIV+ for 20 years (80's&90's, before effective treatment) and never had any symptoms. He said he'd probably had an entire body's worth of blood drawn over those years. Everybody wanted wanted to study his blood. We lost touch, not sure where he is now.
Load More Replies... T'Mar of Vulcan 6 months ago
I have a "photographic memory". Well, there's no such thing actually, but I have a really good memory. When I was a child at school I could remember answers by picturing the page the work was on. It's ironic that I have trouble with faces, but once I remember you, I will be able to tell you all sorts of things we did that you've forgotten. I've had kids I taught come up to me, and they had to tell me who they were, but once they did, I could tell them where they sat in my class, anything interesting they said or did ("You drew a cartoon of me teaching about the Titanic!" "You asked me what an ystervark was in English and I said an iron pig!") and even sometimes what their marks were. But I would not be able to pick them out of a lineup!
Katchen 6 months ago
I also have a good memory but am terrible with faces. Huh.
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