PSY355H5 Final: Introduction to Genetics - Mendelian Inheritance
Document Summary
The basic unit of heredity is the gene. Every individuals inherits two copies of each gene, one is inherited from the mother while the other is from the father. Variations, or in other words polymorphisms, within these gene pairs and pair combinations account for many of the observable differences between two individuals. As genes are strung up on the chromosome in a linear fashion we can also look at the combinations of variance in one or several genes. This is called haplotype (series of alleles on a single chromosome). It refers, therefore, to the order of alleles on a single chromosome. Haplotype analysis is a useful way of applying genotype information in disease gene discovery. The chance of a child to inherit one or the other of the two haplotypes present in each parent is 50%. The observable characteristics of an individual are called the phenotype.
