What is genetic variation?

Individuals in a population are not exactly the same.

Each individual has its unique set of traits, such as size, color, height, body weight, skin colour and even the ability to find food.

Sometimes, offspring’s of the same parents still differ a lot among themselves. You can find that among 3 sisters, one may be very tall, the other may have dark hair and the third may have a rounded nose tip. Such differences in individuals from the same parents are called variation.

Characteristics or traits that are inherited are determined by genetic information. Some other traits like dialect or accent, scars, skin texture or even body weight may be determined by some external
or environmental factors.

These factors include
Diet
Climate
Culture
Lifestyle
Language
Accidents

Sometimes a person may not have inherited a trait, but some conditions have modified the individual to exhibits specific traits. If a child with brown eyes acquires a disease that affects his eyes and turns them yellow, that may be a diseased induced variation.

In the same vain, a child my have the tendency to be tall, but diseases and poor diet during his early years my cause him to have stunted growth.