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Inherited traits are controlled by genes and the complete set of genes within an organism's genome is called its genotype. [2] The complete set of observable traits of the structure and behavior of an organism is called its phenotype. These traits arise from the interaction of the organism's genotype with the environment. [3]
Autosomal traits are associated with a single gene on an autosome (non-sex chromosome)—they are called "dominant" because a single copy—inherited from either parent—is enough to cause this trait to appear. This often means that one of the parents must also have the same trait, unless it has arisen due to an unlikely new mutation.
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution . Gregor Mendel , a Moravian Augustinian friar working in the 19th century in Brno , was the first to study genetics scientifically.
The Mendelian gene is the classical gene of genetics and it refers to any heritable trait. This is the gene described in The Selfish Gene . [ 9 ] More thorough discussions of this version of a gene can be found in the articles Genetics and Gene-centered view of evolution .
Some traits are inherited through genes, which is the reason why tall and thin people tend to have tall and thin children. Other traits come from interactions between genes and the environment, so a child who inherited the tendency of being tall will still be short if poorly nourished. The way our genes and environment interact to produce a ...
Traits that are determined exclusively by genotype are typically inherited in a Mendelian pattern. These laws of inheritance were described extensively by Gregor Mendel, who performed experiments with pea plants to determine how traits were passed on from generation to generation. [8]
A phenotypic trait is an obvious, observable, and measurable characteristic of an organism; it is the expression of genes in an observable way. An example of a phenotypic trait is a specific hair color or eye color. Underlying genes, that make up the genotype, determine the hair color, but the hair color observed is the phenotype.
Epigenetic mechanisms. In biology, epigenetics is the study of heritable traits, or a stable change of cell function, that happen without changes to the DNA sequence. [1] The Greek prefix epi-(ἐπι-"over, outside of, around") in epigenetics implies features that are "on top of" or "in addition to" the traditional (DNA sequence based) genetic mechanism of inheritance. [2]