Science & Technology
100,000 people had their genes sequenced to determine handedness, and it seems that a condition called situs inversus may be able to provide clues behind what makes people use their left hand instead of the right.
One in 20,000 people are affected by the condition which mirrors the major organs from their major positions: for instance the heart would be on the right side of the body instead of the left.
Human geneticist Silvia Paracchini and her team from the University of St Andrews found that the part of the genetic code which is abnormal in people who have situs inversus is the same that affects handedness.
Paracchini said: "The reason why it fascinates us is that we don't really understand it. It's fascinating but also puzzling.
"There must be an evolutionary advantage [to being right-handed]."
While 25 per cent of all left handedness can be linked by a person's genes, the other 75 per cent is still yet to be fully explained.
Just 12 per cent of the world's population is left-handed, with twice as many male left-handers as women, but 30 per cent of people can switch hands during some tasks.
Right handed people reportedly earn 12 per cent more over their lifetimes than lefties, while Harvard economist Joshua Goodman claimed that "lefties have more emotional and behavioural problems".
However, there are plenty of famous left-handers to boast about.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Pierce Brosnan, Nicole Kidman, Marilyn Monroe, Lewis Caroll, Spike Lee, David Bowie, Kurt Cobain, Annie Lennox, Jimmi Hendrix, Ross Kemp, Julius Caesar, Neil Armstrong, Winston Churchill, Babe Ruth, Noel Gallagher and Bart Simpson were/are all left-handers.
Reader Comments
The many "Lefties" that were forced to become "Righties" back when 'left handedness was thought to be "wrong" handedness. What about those that were right handed, but lost the use of that hand/arm and were thereby forced to be 'Lefties'.
Personally, I'll never know if I should have been a 'Leftie' because I had the pencil forcefully removed from my left hand and shoved in my right. But, when I lost the use of my right hand, even just for a short while, I became quite good with my left.
Maybe ambidexterity is more normal than we are lead to believe.
If you write with your left hand, you are more likely to exhibit an degree of ambidexterity ... most right handers are absolutely useless with their left hand ... how can you say someone who is one-handed is more evolutionary developed than someone who is two handed
Most of my friends who are pretty skilled with tools tend to be ambidextrous too despite being right handed. I think when it comes to being ambidextrous, there also needs to be practice in situations that require both hands in order to coordinate well.
Note the use of words like "condition" and mostly men.
Comment: Apparently claims are being made in the above article that have no documentation at all: See: Handedness and Military Leaders