Why do men have nipples? It is quite a
question, and how penetrating it is. Though we all take it for granted, many a researcher has tried to find the answer to this “Why”.
There are
many explanations, which by themselves do not really answer the question.
Scientists
who are expected to answer these types of questions point out that after a
series of tests, some of the male and female traits are more adaptive
explanations, rather than an inclusive explanation. They contend that during the
evolutionary process all kinds of factors, such as chance,
heredity and chance have a part to play.
We have learned
over a period of time that every human inherits one copy each of their father’
and mother’s gene. In other words, it means that traits of the child would be a
combination of both the father’s genome and mother’s genome. Let us examine this from another angle.
If the traits
are inherited from the mother and the father, why then there should be such a
difference between a male and female? An
explanation that is provided is that during the transfer of the genes, the
genetic code of the child is uncoupled -
rather delinked – in the process, and goes on to develop depending upon
the context in which the genes find themselves.
This
uncoupling occurs when there is ‘selection’ for it, namely, male or female.
This translates into the process by which the genetic sequence in the mother
and father determine the sex of the child. Such uncoupling takes place
naturally, and if the baby is a female, accordingly the nipples in the baby are
such that during the evolutionary process,
female would continue to have breasts, while men would only have nipples and
nothing more.
Some
scientists wonder whether this is because of a fault in the genes transfer from
both parents, and what plays a role in the development of the nipples of a girl
versus a boy. The definitive answer to why men have nipples continues
to be a mystery as yet.