Coloring Genetics Gavilan College着色遗传学加维兰大学.ppt

Coloring the Eyeby Louise Callanta “The eyes are the windows to the soul.”  Mendelian Genetics Genetics are normally shown in the most simple terms. Look at Mendel and his pea plants. By looking at the parental lineage, you can predict what the child plants will look like. Humans, in like terms can be predicted to look similar to their parents. But the DNA coding, has complications lurking unseen waiting to be discovered. Using the Punnett Square I have blue eyes, and my husband has brown eyes, so by using on simple Mendelian genetics, I can predict the color of eyes for our potential children. The Prediction vs. The Results Taking a new look Green is a dominant color to blue eyes, and recessive to brown eyes. My initial Punnett Square predictions were missing information, I didn’t realize a green genome was lurking. How did the blue recessive gene trump the dominant brown and green genes? My husband has suggested on a few occasions that maybe the blue eyes came from the mailman. Which of course I am kind enough to inform him that our mail carrier is female and an unlikely sperm donor. But the question has still remained for many years, how do eye genetics work? How is it possible to have multiple potential eye colors? Why didn’t what I was taught in high school apply to the real world? The easy answer is simplification, genetics are not simple, but have been taught in a simplified manner to help students understand the basics. And in my case, causing a bit of confusion down the road. Digging deeper The less-simplified Punnett square Now that I have learned that genes for eye color happen on multiple chromosomes and have been identified on chromosomes 15 and 19, I can create a Punnett square that more accurately reflects my potential offspring. It also reflects why the simpler form is normally used. Hidden DNA Surprises Is it possible for a child with two blue eyed parents to have brown or green eyes? It may go against every