Human Inheritance Pedigree Quiz

• Mendel studied inheritance of traits in pea plants, but principles apply to all living organisms including humans
• Humans cannot reproduce offspring for genetic study like with pea plants
• Tools for studying inheritance in humans include family trees (pedigrees)
• Ancestors at top, descendants at bottom
• Males represented by squares, females by circles
• Individuals with studied trait colored, others represented by empty boxes
• Arrows indicate transmission of trait
• Maladies héréditaires presented: Huntington's disease (left) and Cystic Fibrosis (right)
• Huntington's: dominant trait, minimum of one parent with disease required
• Cystic Fibrosis: recessive trait, both parents must carry faulty allele to pass it to child
• Dominant trait: at least one healthy parent not necessary, but at least one parent with disease required
• Recessive trait: both parents carry faulty allele, but only affected if both passed down
• Pedigrees can diagnose dominant or recessive disease based on pattern of transmission
• Dominant disease: diagnose if affected person has at least one parent with disease
• Recessive disease: both parents must carry faulty allele, so at least one affected sibling indicates carrier parents.

Learn about studying inheritance in humans using family trees (pedigrees). Understand how dominant and recessive traits are transmitted through generations. Practice diagnosing genetic diseases like Huntington's disease and Cystic Fibrosis based on pedigree patterns.