• Question: who came first the fetus or the human

    Asked by whharryandyaseer to Anil, Blanka, Cees, Emma, Mike on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      I got asked a very similar question to this (but about chickens rather than humans) here: /niobiumj12-zone/2012/06/24/what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg-haha/

      Assuming by ‘human’ you mean ‘adult human’ I think it’s the fetus.

      This is because we as humans evolved from other species. This process is in part caused by mutations in the DNA. The mutations that made us human must first have happened when the egg from one pre-human combined with the sperm cell from another pre-human. This exact DNA combination was only present when these cells had combined and this combination was what went on to produce the fetus. Eventually the fetus was born and went on to become an adult human.

      It is quite a philosophical question though so I would be interested to hear what the other scientists think

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