Science - Basic Genetics

Source: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/tour/

I learned and brushed up on many things from this website about heredity and traits. First of all, heredity is the passing of traits from the parent to the child. We inherit traits from our parents and we pass them down to our children as well. One fact I learned about heredity is that when sperm and egg cells (only have one set of chromosomes each -- 23 each) combine, they make a new single cell called a Zygote. The Zygote has two sets of chromosomes (46 chromosomes). Another thing I learned about heredity is that parents "contribute" chromosomes to each new child of theirs randomly. This is why every child has a unique combinations of traits. Some children will resemble the mother while others resemble the father. Some babies might not resemble either paent. They will be unique -- "a product of the new combination of chromosomes."

Traits and heredity have a lot to do with eachother. A trait is a notable feature or quality in a person. Traits are passed down from generation to generation. There are different kinds of traits. One kind is physical traits. These traits are characteristics of one's physical makeup (ie. hair color, eye color, height). Another kind of trait is behavioral trait. This is basically the characteristics of the way one acts. There is one more type of trait that I actually didn't really know about. I learned more about it by reading this article. This trait is called Predisposition to a Medical Condition. This is basically an increased risk of getting a certain type of disease (ie. Sickle Cell Anemia, Cystic Fibrosis, Heart Disease, Cancer, and Certain kinds of Mental Illness).