- All right, so, the field of biology is-- (record scratching) - Hey, Matt, sorry to interrupt. Don't forget to talk about twins. - Well, yeah, I'm about to. Okay. Sorry. Anyway, the field of
biology is massive, diverse, and sometimes confusing. But, as advanced as modern science is, there are still many things
that are unexplained. In fact, very few genetic
anomalies in humans have ever been explained. On top of that, there
are many living things that exist right now that defy everything we thought
we knew about biology. Even as heavily studied as they are, things like microorganisms,
immune systems, or even our own genetic structure continue to stump the
scientific community. So today, I'm going to reveal exactly what those things are, and some of them might just surprise you. So, without further ado, here
are 10 biological anomalies science can't explain. Number one is the placebo effect. The placebo effect occurs
when an individual is tricked into believing that a certain treatment that they were given
will fix their ailment, when in reality, the treatment itself is actually ineffectual. Yet, despite that, the patient
exhibits real improvement. There have been many cases where a patient who is experiencing pain
is given a painkiller drug that actually relieves their symptoms. However, after just a couple days, the painkiller is secretly replaced with a placebo, like sugar pills, and they continue to feel better. Somehow, because the body
believes that it's getting better, it actually begins to get better. This is one example of
the incredible power of the human mind and its
connection with our bodies. There have even been cases
of patients having cancer that go into remission, simply through the power
of positive thinking. Now, how this mind-body connection works is still widely not understood
by the science community. But, it does prove that somehow, the power of positive
thinking has real results. Number two is left handedness. Left handedness is
pretty common in society, with many tools and objects
that have been created that are geared towards lefties. But, out of the world's population, only about 10 to 30 percent of people are actually left handed, meaning that there are way
more right handed people. But why is that? Well, actually, nobody knows. However, what researchers have found is that lefties, believe it or not, have more health problems than righties, and they statistically have
more learning difficulties and mental disorders. In addition, it was found that they aren't as advanced
in athletic fields, they typically enter
puberty later in life, and overall, believe it or not, have a shorter life expectancy. But, interestingly,
lefties seem to excel more in things like music and math, and are more likely to
have left handed children. And, I might add, that there
are plenty of famous lefties. Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Opera Winfry, and Leonardo Da Vinci, just to name some. So even though we don't know
why left handedness occurs, that doesn't mean that
you were dealt a bad hand, pun intended. Number three are two-faces. There is a condition that
exists called diprosopus, also known as cranial-facial duplication. It's when someone grows two faces, and it's not just in humans. This extremely rare congenital disorder affects everything from humans to birds, in which the subject is born with often two identical faces. Although not entirely clear
as to why this happens, scientists believe that it may be due to conjoined twinning, that is, a fusion or incomplete
separation of embryos. Most babies who get this
are unfortunately stillborn, due to the huge complications that arise from having two faces. However, that isn't always the case. In a few rare cases, some subjects live as much as a few hours after birth with this anomaly. However, most recently, in 2014, a child was born under
two names, Faith and Hope, because they had two
identical faces on one skull. Further complicating this
was that they had two brains that were conjoined to one brain stem. Unbelievably, they lived
an astonishing 19 days before passing away. Neither this instance,
nor the condition itself, have yet to be fully explained by science. Number four is animals
living without oxygen. Up until recently, it was
believed that everything on Earth, from humans to microorganisms, need oxygen to survive. That was, until a groundbreaking
discovery was made in 2010. Deep within the Mediterranean Sea, microscopic animals called
loricifera were discovered that live and reproduce
entirely independent of oxygen. They look like tiny little jellyfish, and have astonished the
scientific community. Their cells contain no mitochondria, which is the cell component that uses oxygen to create
energy for the cell. It's still a mystery as to why these microscopic animals exist, but they provide extremely
valuable information into how life evolved
from our early oceans, which theoretically
contained very little oxygen. Number five is the evolution of flowers. Okay, flowers are probably something that you never really think about, and they seem simple, except
that they're anything but. Way, way back, about
400 million years ago, flowers and plants actually
used to rule Earth, and did so for over 250 million years. And they never used to
look like they do now, but somehow, they evolved
into what they look like today with the ability to blossom. But the question is, why
didn't they grow stronger? And for that matter,
where did they come from? Well, it seems like a simple question, except that, believe it or not, scientists have never been
able to find an ancestral link to the creation of the
later-evolved flowers in plants of today. That's right, there is
literally a missing link between today's pretty flowers, and the original plants that
used to dominate everything. That's a pretty shocking trait for something that you
thought was so simple. Number six are identical twins. Identical twins are the
result of a fertilized egg that splits into two, which occurs only about three times in every 1000 pregnancies
around the world. Each twin is born with
the same DNA and gender as their brother or sister, and could be considered clones. But there are some
interesting differences. In some cases, twins will
have opposing handedness, with one twin being right handed and the other being left handed. And some will even have
bigger feet than the other, and they can even look different. Now, in theory, twins
should look identical, but their genes can mutate and produce unique physical appearances, including never having
similar fingerprints. Scientists to this day still
do not have all the answers as to why identical twins occur, but studies on willing
participants continue. Number seven are how plankton survive. Plankton are microscopic organisms that benefit life in our oceans as food and by providing oxygen. But, as simple as they seem, they actually pose a huge contradiction to what scientists thought they knew about organisms and the
environments in which they live. The paradox that confuses scientists lies in the fact that they don't just live, but thrive in environments
that lack enough nutrients for them to survive. And even stranger is that in
environments full of food, it's the opposite. They aren't as plentiful. This baffles not only
your and my basic logic, but science in general. So the question is, how do they survive in such seemingly bad conditions? This is the very question that researchers are trying to figure out, since it goes against our
conventional understandings of natural selection. Number eight are chimeras. You and I are made up of one set of DNA. But what would happen if a
second set existed within us? That is wat a chimera is, an organism or creature that contains at least two different sets of DNA. What's incredible about them is that, as it grows, each population of cells from each DNA set keeps its own character, which has some crazy results. Now, most chimeras show subtle signs, such as mismatched eyes. However, some have far more obvious signs that you're not gonna believe. Some chimeras have two sets of genitalia, or completely different
DNA than their parents. An example of this was in 2002, when a British woman named Lydia Fairchild took a DNA test with the
man that she believed was her children's father, only to find out that yes,
he matched, but she didn't. Science cannot explain why chimeras occur, however, the likelihood of
offspring being a chimera is increased greatly if you
use in-vitro fertilization. Number nine is magneto-reception. Aside from sounding like an
X-Men villain's waiting room, magneto-reception is a strange
but extremely useful ability that certain animals possess. It allows them to actually
sense magnetic fields, like the one that's
around Earth, for example, as well as determine directions,
altitudes, and locations. This is exactly why
birds like homing pigeons have the ability to fly
straight back to their homes after being transported
long distances to areas that they have never been before. They literally have built-in compasses. Scientists cannot explain why animals like bats, mice, hens, worms, fruit flies, and other animals have magneto-reception, and why they can navigate in ways that are invisible to humans. Now, some researchers
think that it's through a sensitivity to iron in their body, reacting to the magnetic fields, or possibly through a
protein called kryptochrome that can possibly sense such fields. But perhaps the strangest thing is that humans posses both of these, leading scientists to believe
that magneto-reception is something that we
might be able to activate within ourselves one day. And number 10 are extra fingers. Some people are born with better vision, or better hearing, or
superior athleticism. But, others are born
with a different trait, an extra finger. This deformity is a
condition called polydactyly, in which a person is born with one or more fingers on their hands. Most often occurring
beside the pinky finger or beside the thumb, and least occurring in
the middle of the hand, this anomaly has stumped scientists as to why it happens. Most occurrences are sporadic, meaning that they occur without any specific cause. But it's believed that the majority are caused by either a genetic defect, or an underlying hereditary syndrome. And the most shocking this is that it isn't even all that rare. It occurs in about one out
of every 500 to 1000 babies. Luckily, the condition
does not cause pain, and the extra digit can be
removed through surgery. And even more interestingly
is that African Americans are more likely to have
an extra little finger, while Asians and Caucasians are more likely to get an extra thumb. Scientists continue to
try to study embryos in an attempt to learn
more about this condition. So, those were 10 biological anomalies that science can't explain. But I wanna know from you in the comments. Are these simple mutations, or are they a sign of some new evolution? But as always, thank you
guys so much for watching. Remember to subscribe to my channel, because I release new videos Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If you want to watch more,
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will see you this Saturday. Bye!
