Documenting Genetic Traits

A Widow's Peak is a dominant trait!

Something fun you might want to consider as part of your family genealogy is documenting genetic traits. Inheriting dominant and recessive traits can be interesting when you look at past generations. Just remember, dominant traits are much more easily passed down than recessive ones. Since you probably won’t be able to find out if a great grandfather had a specific trait unless you have a good clear picture, you can document your living relative’s traits for future generations.

The first thing you can do is look up genetic traits and whether they are dominant or recessive. Write down who has what. I found a great activity online that you can do to create a family tree of genetic traits. It’s The Tree of Genetic Traits. The instructions are included and seems like a fun thing to do with children.

While genetic traits don’t have much influence on health or anything of real importance, it’s still fun to see how some characteristics are passed down from generations and which side of the family you inherited which trait from. If you are looking for a list of genetic traits to start you off, read this blog post on Fun Genetic Traits.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedsblog/3682191/)

July 22nd, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Genetic Roots | (1)