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Human Genetics

In humans, there are traits that are passed on from parents to children to grandchildren.  Even if the family does not have large properties of land or estate, this inheritance goes beyond titles and papers.  It is something that cannot be passed to other families and it also cannot be taken away once given.  It is something that is priceless.  What is it?  The answer is genes.

Genes are the reasons for why good looks from a parent are passed.  It is also the reason some people attain high IQ’s, beautiful skin, legs, and face.  Why is one tall?  It probably is because both parents are tall.  However, it is not all the time that the good things are the only ones that gets passed.  Sometimes children would get a disease like color blindness, haemophilia, and mental retardation from the genes of their parents. 

One might say to themselves that they will look for a future partner without these bad genes.  But is it going to be as easy as physically looking at the person?  How sure will they be that the people they encounter and have connections with do not have bad genes? 

It is really hard to predict how one’s child will look like.  It is also difficult to foresee the diseases each partner might be carrying.  But thanks to human genetics, this complicated subject can now be understood by many.

Human genetics is the study about inheritance in humans.  There are many fields included in it and these fields are overlapping in terms of scope.  Genes are the main focus and factor when one talk about inheritance and it is by studying human genetics that people can solve the puzzling concept about human nature, disease development, treatment of diseases, and overall understanding of genetics in human life.
It was Gregor Mendel who first introduced genetics to the world.  He was a monk but he was curious to know about these things.  The first thing he experimented on was peas and it was through this that he formulated a certain model for inheritance. 

Based on this model, traits can be autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive.  Autosomal dominant is the type of inheritance where only one gene is needed for the trait, disease, or quality to appear in the child.  Examples of these include facial dimples, curly hair, body hair, A and B blood types, freckles, and nearsightedness.  Autosomal recessive, on the other hand, require both parents to have the gene present in order for the quality to appear in their child.  Examples include straight hair, O blood type, tall statue, straight hair, and narrow nose.  For both types, gender is not an issue.  It can appear on both male and female children. 

There are also x and y-linked traits.  These are traits that are dependent on gender before they can appear.  The disease haemophilia for example, can be carried by the mother without having symptoms of the disease.  But once she bears a male child, this child will exhibit symptoms.

Human genetics include several other scopes of practice, including those in the biological and molecular level. It also includes genetic counselling. Right now, the study is even growing further and will become more advances in the years to come.

Your genes, your blueprint

Anybody can do anything that he imagines. - Henry Ford