Genetics is the study of heredity. In
living organisms, there are genes, genetic variation, and heredity. The main
idea of genetics being the study of heredity is that we observe that just about
all living things inherit traits from both parents. The work of Gregor Mendel
is what sparked the understanding of this process. This started in the mid-19th
century and is still a huge subject of discussion.
Gregor Mendel was a scientist who
studied the nature of inheritance in plants. For his work, Mendel traced
inheritance patterns of traits in peas. After tracing this, he would describe
them mathematically. Mendel concluded through this study that inheritance of
many traits could be explained through rules and simple ratios. Very few people
understood the concept of heredity until after Mendel’s death, when other
scientists took on studies similar to his.
With genetics comes gene mutations.
Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA sequence that is permanent. DNA
sequences are what makes up a gene. Mutations range is size and can affect
anything from a base pair to a large chromosome segment that includes multiple
genes. Many children are born with gene mutations, like Sickle-Cell Anemia and
Tay-Sachs disease. That’s just part of life.
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