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Hereditary
Introduction:
My topic is "hereditary." I have always been interested in genetics,
and this is a large branch of genetics. In this report I also plan to speak
about evolution. I would like to learn more about what causes specific
traits and what the future might bring.
Body:
A person gets his or her traits from their parents. These traits
include everything from the person's sex to their mental abilities or
problems. These traits are hereditary because they are passed on through
genes. They get these genes from their parents and grandparents. They may
inherit innate abilities of their parents, such as an affinity for music.
Another factor in who you are is the environment you live in. The
environment you are in may affect how you develop. For instance, if you
have a talent for music, but have no way to acquire instruments, then it is
doubtful that you will ever discover your talent with music. Physically,
you may have great potential as a runner, but, if you do not get enough to
eat, then it is doubtful that you will ever live up to your potential.
Traits such as what you look like are inherited from your parents.
Your potential is also inherited from your parents. Chromosomes contain the
information of a person's potential height, potential strength against
disease, and other physical characteristics.
A human being has 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell in his or her
body (except reproductive cells). If, during a stage of growth, a fetus
somehow loses one of these chromosomes, the baby may die, or have a birth
defect. Since this error is written on their genes, they may pass it on to
their children, who may or may not have anything wrong with them.
The way a person looks, as I have stated, is hereditary. In humans,
brown eyes are dominant. Thus, if a person with brown eyes and a recessive
blue eye gene were to marry someone with similar genes, it is most likely
their children would have brown eyes. A chart is used to show the
possibilities:
A diagram like that could be used to find out what the eyes of a
couples children would be. The reason "B" is capitalized is because it is a
dominant trait, and the reason "b" is not capitalized is because it is a
recessive trait.
Thus the possible combinations are BB (25% chance), or pure brown eyes,
Bb (50% chance), or a hybrid whose children may have blue eyes, or bb (25%
chance), or pure blue eyes. There is a 75% chance that the child will have
brown eyes.
The same chart may be used for a number of traits, but in higher
animals, such as humans, there are variations. For instance if a person who
has light brown eyes has a child with a person who has dark brown eyes, the
child's eyes are likely to be medium brown. The charts are still valid
though, because not all traits are compatible.
Recessive genes do not visibly show up when there is a dominant gene
present. A hybrid is a person who has both a dominant and recessive gene.
Their appearance is that of a person who has no recessive gene, but they
carry the recessive gene, and it is possible their children will also.
There are also times when there is a compromise. If two genes are both
dominant, the resulting offspring will have a blend of those genes. For
example, a black rooster and a white hen mate, and the resulting offspring
are gray. The same can be said for people.
Genes are made of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA for short. DNA is
shaped like a double helix, and, through combinations of adenine, thymine,
guanine, and cytosine, a gene is made. DNA determines who you are and what
your potential is.
It is a well-known fact that drugs and alcohol can damage the fetus.
The drugs may damage chromosomes in the fetus, which may develop into a
deformity, mental problems, or even addiction to the drug. It is also
possible that a drug damaged the father's sperm cells, which damaged
inversely damaged the fetus.
This information may be used for genetic engineering or cross breeding.
If a person where to crossbreed a type of cucumber that has a good
resistance to disease, but tastes bad, and a cucumber with no immunity that
tastes good, you may get a good tasting disease resistance cucumber. Then
again you may get disease prone bad tasting cucumber. It depends on the
dominance of the genes involved.
Another aspect of genetics is evolution. Evolution is a series of
mutations that result positively. For example, once ducks had no webbing on
their feet. Only mutant ducks had webbing at the time. The mutant ducks
were better swimmers, so they survived attacks from predators while ducks
without webbing did not. Thus only ducks with webbed feet survived, and we
have the modern duck. Man has, supposedly, evolved from apes in a similar
manner.
Both evolution and inherited traits are interesting sciences, which
may be important in the future. It may be possible, someday, to encourage
evolution, and perhaps manipulate traits.
I learned...
1. that environment can affect what a person becomes in life.
2. that evolution is a part of life.
3. birth defects may be caused if the father uses drugs.
4. that hybrids may or may not be superior to the originals.
5. that the amount of chromosomes an animal has does not determine its
superiority. (People have 46 chromosomes, potatoes have 48)
Bibliography
1. Concepts and Challenges in Life Science, Second Edition, authors:
Leonard Bernstein, Martin Schachter, Alan Winkler, and Stanley Wolfe.
Allyn and Bacon Inc. Newton Massachusetts, 1986.
2. Hereditary Jean Coryyllel Lipke. Lerner Publications Company,
United State, 1971*
3.Evolution: Opposing Viewpoints Marilyn Bailey. Greenhaven Press, Inc.
Sandiego California, 1990.
*I apologize for using a concurrent book, but the information I used
from it seems valid.
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