Peas in a Pod: The Story of Heredity

What determines the type of ice cream that you prefer; childhood experience and exposure to the flavor or your inherited traits?

PTC (phenylthiocarbamide)The ability to taste PTC (or not) is conveyed by a single gene that codes for a taste receptor on the tongue. The PTC gene, TAS2R38, was discovered in 2003. Studies suggest a correlation between

the ability to taste PTC and preferences for certain types of food (“PTC: Genes,” n.d.)

Are you a taster or a non-taster?

The PTC gene has about 85% of the total influence over whether someone is a taster or a non-taster (“PTC: Gene,” n.d). Environmental factors can influence PTC tasting.

Inherited vs Acquired Traits

Kahoot!

inherited trait: a genetically determined characteristic or quality that distinguishes someone or something Inherited traits are passed in DNA from parents to their offspring.

acquired trait: develops during the lifetime of the organism but are not in the organism’s DNA and are not inherited by its offspringAcquired traits are often learned.

Dominant and

Recessive Genes

Dominant + Dominant = Dominant

Dominant + Recessive = Dominant

Recessive + Recessive = Recessive