# Can behavior affect our DNA **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2023, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736 "2023-11-07T06:40:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/41 "2023-11-07T21:07:10Z")
I wonder if anyone has looked at whether or not the moon is mainly made of cheese. Now I’m not saying it’s ALL cheese… But there must be SOME there, right? Just because the moon missions didn’t find any does not mean there is no cheese there at all. Let’s ask more questions about the cheese in the moon! Just let me know if this is wrong and I will rethink it. Everything I say is just based on impressions I have that may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/42 "2023-11-07T21:11:17Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I asked a simple question No, you didn’t. You put forward a preposterous convoluted hypothesis from a position of total ignorance of basic science. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/43 "2023-11-07T21:22:11Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > No, you didn’t. You put forward a preposterous convoluted hypothesis from a position of total ignorance of basic science. I have a lot of respect for you and your knowledge and I do appreciate your input. But I think you are dead wrong about one thing. Simply asking if something happens to sperm during its storage period that might affect it final journey is not a dumb question. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/44 "2023-11-07T21:23:50Z")
Moderating: > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > What you said here is thread shitting. Don’t junior mod. If you have a concern, flag it and let us deal with it. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > What the hell is wrong with you? This is a personal attack. Knock it off, now. You know better than this. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/45 "2023-11-07T21:32:24Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I wonder if anyone has looked at whether or not the moon is mainly made of cheese. Now I’m not saying it’s ALL cheese… But there must be SOME there, right? Just because the moon missions didn’t find any does not mean there is no cheese there at all. > > Let’s ask more questions about the cheese in the moon! > > Just let me know if this is wrong and I will rethink it. Everything I say is just based on impressions I have that may be wrong. Well, I think you are just thinking with your testes. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/46 "2023-11-07T21:35:28Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I hadn’t thought about posting on this until several hours after I did the reading and now I am struggling to phrase my question to google the same way so I can find the article. And you can’t be arsed to look for the link in your browser history? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/47 "2023-11-07T21:40:38Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Simply asking if something happens to sperm during its storage period that might affect it final journey is not a dumb question. Phrased in this open way, perhaps. But what you said was: > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The only thing I could think of was that chemicals and hormones produced in our brain might react more with certain sperm stimulating them to have a better chance of reaching the egg. And phrased in this way, it is indeed a dumb question that derives from gross misconceptions that (as has subsequently become clear) originate in your reading of a crank website. If you had CITED YOUR SOURCE we could have dealt with those misconceptions up front. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/48 "2023-11-07T23:09:07Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I wonder if anyone has looked at whether or not the moon is mainly made of cheese. Now I’m not saying it’s ALL cheese… But there must be SOME there, right? Just because the moon missions didn’t find any does not mean there is no cheese there at all. Some people think the moon is made entirely of cheese and others think there is no cheese there whatsoever. Thus, the safest assumption is that the moon is partially made of cheese. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/49 "2023-11-07T23:12:37Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Thus, the safest assumption is that the moon is partially made of cheese. There is the dark side and the side that is hallouminated. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/50 "2023-11-07T23:12:54Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Right? Congratulations! You’re asking questions, so that means you’re doing science, I imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/51 "2023-11-07T23:23:15Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Cat behavior affects our DNA? I hope my cat’s behavior isn’t affecting my DNA. The brain parasites are bad enough! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/52 "2023-11-07T23:27:31Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The brain parasites are bad enough! THIS behavior affects my DNA. (and maybe my sperm, too! 😱) [![](https://forumcontent.paradoxplaza.com/public/719025/brain-slug.jpg) ](https://forumcontent.paradoxplaza.com/public/719025/brain-slug.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/53 "2023-11-07T23:33:10Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I hope my cat’s behavior isn’t affecting my DNA. Don’t be complacent. Huntington’s is caused by the expansion of a Short Tandem Repeat with the sequence Cytosine Adenine Guanine (CAG). So Ceiling Cat only knows what havoc could be wrought by the expansion of a Cytosine Adenine Thymine sequence - licking your own butt would be the least of it. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/54 "2023-11-08T00:13:52Z")
Dammit, I could have sworn I posted that in the “misread thread titles” thread. That’s where I meant to put it. Probably a cat walked over my keyboard and messed it up. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/55 "2023-11-08T01:00:20Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The condition of the females womb or the ph would favor male [that is, Y] or female [that is, X] sperm. That would indicate that not all sperm respond the same to things. This is to a degree true for humans as well. It’s a statistically small but significant difference in sex ratio. I just recently heard a podcast about a statistician who noticed that, right around the ends of the first and second world wars, there were spikes in the ratio of male to female babies being born. It was theorized, and the data bore it out, that something that happens when soldiers return from war is that people have a lot of sex. When there’s a lot of sex happening, pregnancy is more likely to happen during the earlier part of the fertile period (because if it happens earlier, it can’t happen later anymore). And there’s a tendency for the sex ratio of fetuses conceived earlier in the fertile period to skew slightly towards male. This is an indirect effect of behavior on which sex genes get passed on. But any answer to your question will necessarily be indirect, in a similar way. Here’s a link to the podcast. > **[BBC Radio 4 - Uncharted with Hannah Fry, 1. The Returning Soldier](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qw4s)** > > Why are more boys born in certain years? One researcher is on a quest to find out why. Also, if “spinal” is the word you intended here, then you’ll need to study some basic biology. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > My question was very specifically related to sperm responding differently to the whatever chemical were present in our spinal fluid shortly before ejaculation. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/56 "2023-11-08T01:04:18Z")
Maybe the moon is just one giant space testicle? Did any of you smartasses think about that? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/57 "2023-11-08T04:05:18Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Probably a cat walked over my keyboard and messed it up. Cat behavior can certainly affect our Document Navigation Ability. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/58 "2023-11-08T05:41:02Z")
I read it as Cat as well. Damn DNA altering feline overlords. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/59 "2023-11-08T19:24:38Z")
Who was the Russian guy who thought if you kept amputating frog legs you would wind up with legless baby frogs? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736/60 "2023-11-08T19:31:24Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > > Thus, the safest assumption is that the moon is partially made of cheese. > > There is the dark side and the side that is hallouminated. Glad to see you still retain your sense of humor! > [@carrps](#): > > > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > > > Who was the Russian guy who thought if you kept amputating frog legs you would wind up with legless baby frogs? > > Lysenko? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-behavior-affect-our-dna/992736.md?page=4)