There is no gene "for" such unambiguous bits of morphology as your left kneecap or your fingernail. [...] Hundreds of genes contribute to the building of most body parts and their action is channeled through a kaleidoscopic series of environmental influences: embryonic and postnatal, internal and external. Parts are not translated genes, and selection doesn't even work directly on parts.
Stephen Jay Gould (2010). “The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History”, p.91, W. W. Norton & Company
![There is no gene for such unambiguous bits of morphology as your left kneecap or your fingernail. [...] Hundreds of genes contribute to the building of most body parts and their action is channeled through a](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/stephen-jay-gould/there-is-no-gene-for-such-unambiguous-bits-of-morphology-as-your-left-kneecap-or-your-fingernail--hundreds-of.jpg)