The outside of your body is symmetrical, but the inside is anything but. Get ready to learn more about symmetry, asymmetry, and why they happen in this It’s Okay to Be Smart video.
We are symmetrical on the outside, as are most animals, and there is an evolutionary reason for this — symmetry seems to be an indicator of good genes; thus, it influences mate selection. But symmetry is only skin deep. The heart, stomach, and spleen are on the left side of the body, while the liver is on the right. Even organs that may seem symmetrical, aren’t. For example, the left lung has only two lobes, but the right has three lobes. The brain is also not entirely symmetrical: the left and right lobes have some different functions.
Not everyone is asymmetrical in the same way. About 1 in every 20,000 people has a genetic condition known as situs inversus, which means that the organs are on the opposite side of the body than what is normal. In general, this condition is not associated with any negative effects.
Why are our insides asymmetrical? Researchers have discovered that which side is left and which side is right is determined as early as the embryonic stage, when cilia in certain cells start to move in unison, pointing toward what will become the organism’s left side.
Watch the video to learn more about how our internal asymmetry develops and what it means for us.
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