Alleles are gene copies that decide traits and characteristics
Alleles are copies of genes that influence hereditary characteristics.
Each person inherits at least two alleles for a particular geneone allele from each parent.
They are also called allelomorphs.
Verywell / Jessica Olah
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the hereditary material that humans and other living organisms get from each parent.
Half of a person’s DNA comes from their mother, and the other half comes from their father.
Your DNA is organized into small parts called genes.
Genes act as coded instructions to control how our bodies are built and influence what we look like.
Experts estimate that humans have about 20,000 to 25,000 genes.
Here’s are two common scenarios that might occur:
Here’s where it can get a little tricky.
An allele can be dominant or recessive.
Dominant alleles express a trait, even if there is only one copy.
Recessive alleles can only express themselves if there are two copiesone from each parent.
And you’ve probably figured out by now that dominant alleles overrule recessive alleles.
Green eye color is a mix of both and is dominant to blue but recessive to brown.
This also includes blood throw in and hair color.
Significance
Alleles help decide almost everything about a living being.
Scientists originally thought that a single, simple inheritance pattern produced a person’s eye color.
MedlinePlus.Is eye color determined by genetics?
National Human Genome Research Institute.Gene.
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2019;116(6):2158-2164. doi:10.1073/pnas.1813852116
