Heredity can been define as the transmission of characteristics from parent to the springs. Children tend to resemble the parents, grandparents or other close relatives more than they do resemble other people. This is also true of other species of animals and plants.
A certain man from Australia called Gregor Mendel in the year 1865 published the result of many years of experiments he had made in cross-breeding varieties of a European plant, garden pea, and brought out his conclusions. The importance of his experiments was not realized until the year 1900. Since then, many experiments based on his work have been carried out by many other scientists, these experiments have helped us greatly to understand the concept of heredity, which is the study of how characteristics are transmitted from one generation to the other. Other scientists who ventured into this area were Francis Galton and Charles Darwin.
Types of genes
Dominant And Recessive Genes
Genes cannot be neglected when talking about genetics. Genetics is the branch of biology which tries to tell make us understand the similarities and differences of the inherited traits or characters. The study of genetics is therefore the study of heredity. The genes which govern the characteristics transmitted is inside the chromosome found in the nucleus of every living cell.
There are as many genes as there are characteristics, for example, in plants, there are traits for size, color of flower, shape of fruit, etc. In human beings, there are traits for tallness, color of skin, eye,shape of nose, mouth, etc.
When these traits are inherited by the offspring from both parents, the way they are manifested for development varies. Some of these traits may be said to be dominant, while others are recessive.
In our next class, we will explain the types of genes and how they are controlled.
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