Do you ever wonder about your very strange body? What is the deal with crusty versus liquidy earwax? Why is it different colors? Why does its consistency change over time? Where does it come from? Is it produced by the body or captured from the atmosphere? Are some people more predisposed to earwax production/capture than others? Is there a genetic foundation to earwax production? Are there uses for earwax that I have not considered? What wonders do you contemplate about your body?
Vice President, Learning Experiences 8 Posts
Robert Corbin is VP, Learning Experiences at Discovery Place. Prior to joining Discovery Place in 2007, Robert spent 15 years in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, teaching science and serving Science Academic Content Coach and mentor. Robert has developed science curricula for the Weather Channel, Paramount Pictures, the ASPCA, and the Environmental Literacy Council and he wrote curriculum to accompany Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth.
Robert holds an M.A. degree in Natural Science Teaching from the University of South Carolina and a B.S. in Science Education from Michigan State University and recently completed his doctoral degree at UNC-Charlotte.
Comments
Post a CommentI remember from anthropology courses that researchers can trace the early migrations of people by looking for different types of earwax genes. For example, Caucasians and Africans have one type while Asians have another. They can trace Native Americans back to Asia using this method.
Jonathan Hayes - September 15, 2009
Koh-ichiro Yoshiura of Nagasaki University studied 33 different ethnic groups around the globe and concluded that there are two different kinds of earwax among humans. Wet earwax is common to Africa and Europe. Dry earwax is associated with East Asians. Apparently the people of Central Asia have either or? some wet and some dry. Remarkably it is the switch of a single DNA unit that causes wet versus dry earwax.
I wonder what the relative advantages of wet versus dry earwax might be and why this ?trait? is represented differently in different parts of the globe? Is their an environmental connection?
Robert Corbin, VP, Learning Experiences
Discovery Place - September 24, 2009