Mendelian genetics is the basic idea behind understanding how traits are passed down from parents to kids. It focuses on dominant and recessive genes. But, it doesn’t work well for more complicated traits, which are affected by many genes and environmental factors.
Complex traits are often polygenic, which means they are controlled by many genes. For example, height is influenced by over 700 different genes. Each gene contributes a little bit to a person’s height. This is different from just looking at dominant and recessive traits. Instead, many small effects add up to determine a person's height. In simple terms, you could think of height like this:
Height = the sum of all the gene contributions
Mendelian genetics usually studies traits in a controlled setting. But complex traits, like skin color or how likely someone is to get certain diseases, are heavily affected by the environment. For example, around 40-70% of the differences in conditions like diabetes and obesity come from environmental factors. This makes it hard to predict genetic outcomes based solely on genes.
Complex traits often come from how genes and the environment work together. Sometimes, a person's genes might not predict their traits correctly because of outside influences. For instance, a specific gene related to type 2 diabetes might have a different effect on someone depending on their diet and how much they exercise.
Other factors play a role too. One of these is called epistasis, where one gene can change how another gene works. This makes it harder to use Mendel's predictions. Another factor is pleiotropy, which is when one gene affects more than one trait. This creates a complicated web of how traits can be connected, making them difficult to fit into Mendelian genetics.
Mendelian genetics is very helpful for understanding basic inheritance. However, it doesn’t fully explain complex traits, which shows we need new ways to study genetics today. These new methods should take into account how many genes and environmental factors work together. This understanding is especially important in areas like personalized medicine, where we look at both genetics and the environment to assess health risks.
Mendelian genetics is the basic idea behind understanding how traits are passed down from parents to kids. It focuses on dominant and recessive genes. But, it doesn’t work well for more complicated traits, which are affected by many genes and environmental factors.
Complex traits are often polygenic, which means they are controlled by many genes. For example, height is influenced by over 700 different genes. Each gene contributes a little bit to a person’s height. This is different from just looking at dominant and recessive traits. Instead, many small effects add up to determine a person's height. In simple terms, you could think of height like this:
Height = the sum of all the gene contributions
Mendelian genetics usually studies traits in a controlled setting. But complex traits, like skin color or how likely someone is to get certain diseases, are heavily affected by the environment. For example, around 40-70% of the differences in conditions like diabetes and obesity come from environmental factors. This makes it hard to predict genetic outcomes based solely on genes.
Complex traits often come from how genes and the environment work together. Sometimes, a person's genes might not predict their traits correctly because of outside influences. For instance, a specific gene related to type 2 diabetes might have a different effect on someone depending on their diet and how much they exercise.
Other factors play a role too. One of these is called epistasis, where one gene can change how another gene works. This makes it harder to use Mendel's predictions. Another factor is pleiotropy, which is when one gene affects more than one trait. This creates a complicated web of how traits can be connected, making them difficult to fit into Mendelian genetics.
Mendelian genetics is very helpful for understanding basic inheritance. However, it doesn’t fully explain complex traits, which shows we need new ways to study genetics today. These new methods should take into account how many genes and environmental factors work together. This understanding is especially important in areas like personalized medicine, where we look at both genetics and the environment to assess health risks.