Generations of students have been deceived into thinking that the ability to perform the completely pointless party trick of tongue rolling comes down to a single gene.
This erroneous factoid, originating from the work of geneticist Alfred Sturtevant in the 1940s, did the rounds in biology classes for decades.
Since the arrival of the internet, however, the truth has come to light.
It turns out Sturtevant’s theory was disproved as early as the 1950s by studies of identical twins. Later, a small study also suggested that, with consistent practice, anyone can learn to roll their tongue.
Perhaps the real point is that almost nobody is bothered enough to try.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Ruby Pearce, York) ‘Is tongue rolling actually genetic?’
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