What Are the Implications of Genetic Research on Inherited Traits?

[noman.rasheed]

Which DNA do we inherit from both of our parents?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Maybe this will help you
http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/...here-did-my-dna-come-from-and-why-it-matters/

 

[rootone]

You get 50% from each parent but not any specific 50%, the recombination appears to be completely random.
You don't get something like your father's feet and you mother's eyes.

In addition to DNA in the nucleus, some DNA exists in mitochondria, which are like little chemical factories in cells and are outside the nucleus.
That DNA is only inhereted from the mother, but it only functions as a regulatory mechanism for internal processes of the cell.
It is thought not to be at all involved in determining any part of a person's physiology.

 

[Quantum Defect]

You get 50% from each parent but not any specific 50%, the recombination appears to be completely random.
You don't get something like your father's feet and you mother's eyes.

In addition to DNA in the nucleus, some DNA exists in mitochondria, which are like little chemical factories in cells and are outside the nucleus.
That DNA is only inhereted from the mother, but it only functions as a regulatory mechanism for internal processes of the cell.
It is thought not to be at all involved in determining any part of a person's physiology.

If you are a boy, you got your Y chromosome from pop.

 

[rootone]

That's true, but it is nevertheless associated with an X chromosome which you got from your mother.
The resulting recombined 'gene', affects (probably), many different aspects of the physiological result, but you definitely will be male.
Equally though, (50% equally), it could turn out that you inherit an X chromosome from pop, then you will definitely be female.
I take your point though.

 

[SteamKing]

You get 50% from each parent but not any specific 50%, the recombination appears to be completely random.
You don't get something like your father's feet and you mother's eyes.

In addition to DNA in the nucleus, some DNA exists in mitochondria, which are like little chemical factories in cells and are outside the nucleus.
That DNA is only inhereted from the mother, but it only functions as a regulatory mechanism for internal processes of the cell.
It is thought not to be at all involved in determining any part of a person's physiology.

Well, the traits you inherit from your mother and father are not completely random. That was proven by this chap called Gregor Mendel, who made many experiments with cultivating pea plants:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel

Studying how the genes from the mother and father combine is just one part of the science of genetics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetics

The traits of an individual can be traced back sometimes to the traits of one or both parents. Things like blood type, eye color, etc. are somewhat understood. Other traits may be poorly understood or not understood at all.

Genetic research is also important because certain diseases, like cancer, are know to have genetic causes, so if the genetic markers for the disease can be established to be present in an individuals ancestors, then perhaps a prediction can be made of the chances of that individual developing the disease, and his condition may be monitored closely for early signs of this so treatment can begin.

A lot of this is cutting edge research, which is why things like decoding the human genome can have potentially staggering implications for future scientific breakthroughs in curing or treating diseases, among other things.