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The study of human genetic variation has evolutionary significance and medical applications. It can help scientists reconstruct and understand patterns of past human migration. In medicine, study of human genetic variation may be important because some disease-causing alleles occur more often in certain population groups.
Genetic variation can be identified at many levels. Identifying genetic variation is possible from observations of phenotypic variation in either quantitative traits (traits that vary continuously and are coded for by many genes, e.g., leg length in dogs) or discrete traits (traits that fall into discrete categories and are coded for by one or a few genes, e.g., white, pink, or red petal color ...
Medical genetics is the application of genetics to medical care. It overlaps human genetics, for example, research on the causes and inheritance of genetic disorders would be considered within both human genetics and medical genetics, while the diagnosis, management, and counseling of individuals with genetic disorders would be considered part ...
If a mutation occurs within a gene, the new allele may affect the trait that the gene controls, altering the phenotype of the organism. [8] However, while this simple correspondence between an allele and a trait works in some cases, most traits are more complex and are controlled by multiple interacting genes within and among organisms.
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It ranges widely, from the number of species to differences within species, and can be correlated to the span of survival for a species. [1] It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to ...
Human accelerated regions are areas of the genome that differ between humans and chimpanzees to a greater extent than can be explained by genetic drift over the time since the two species shared a common ancestor. These regions show signs of being subject to natural selection, leading to the evolution of distinctly human traits.
Other gene types showing considerable evidence of adaptive evolution (but generally less evidence than the types discussed) include: genes on the X chromosome, nervous system genes, genes involved in apoptosis, genes coding for skeletal traits, and possibly genes associated with speech (Nielsen et al. 2005a, Williamson et al. 2007, Voight et al ...
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.