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What can pedigrees show you?
Pedigree charts can show one many things involving the passing of a trait. For example, hair color and eye color. It's not just limited to physical traits, but also includes non-physical traits. Below, you'll see two pedigrees from the fictional Doe family. The first one shows the passing of blood types, and the second one shows the passing of the mutated gene for SCD.
References
Tran, V. (Student). (2014). blood [Digital image], Retrieved April 11,2014, from: https://docs.google.com/a/westcta.ccsd.net/file/d/0B7xPyPm929tYelhpMC1zMjJ5Y28/edit
Tran, V. (Student). (2014). scd [Digital image], Retrieved April 11, 2014, from: https://docs.google.com/a/westcta.ccsd.net/file/d/0B7xPyPm929tYNzNZUUEwS2gzV3M/edit
To the left, there is a key to deciphering the attached pedigree. The Doe family men are represented by the squares, while the women are represented by the circles. Lines directly connecting two shapes together represents a marriage. Lines stemming from a pair denotes children.
Each shape has a blood genotype attached to the front. It shows what blood type each family member has and what genes they have for it. For example, the beginning of the pedigree shows that the male has OO- blood and the female has AA- blood. Each of their children can only have AO- blood, as those are the only possible genotypes available to them from their parents.
To the right, there is a key to deciphering the attached pedigree. The Doe family men are represented by the squares, while the women are represented by the circles. Half-shaded squares and circles show that that family member carries the gene for SCD, but don't have the disease themselves. Fully-shaded squares and circles show that that family member has SCD. Lines directly connecting two shapes together represents a marriage. Lines stemming from a pair denotes children.
Pedigree Applications
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