Pedigree Charts
The image to the left is known as a pedigree chart. It looks very similar to a family tree, which we are familiar with. Due to this, it can also be called "The Family Tree of Genetics". All pedigree charts include a title, the actual chart, and a key/legend. You can form a pedigree chart based on sex-linked traits, genetic traits, and x-linked traits. For the chart, you always start out with the oldest living generation on top and work your way down and to present life. You show that two people are married by connecting them with a horizontal line. You show that a couple has had kids by a vertical line. The key includes the most important information in order to understand the actual chart. It shows what the circles and squares are, what it means if its shaded all the way, half the way , or not at all. It also tells if that certain individual is deceased or currently alive. You can also determine peoples genotypes from the pedigree charts. The phenotypes are easy to understand because all you have to do is look at the chart and its key. The recessive genotypes are also easy to figure out because there is only one available allele pair for a recessive trait. Lastly, for the dominant genotypes, you have to do Punnett Squares and check the possible offspring and its percentages in order to find the parent alleles.
The image to the left is known as a pedigree chart. It looks very similar to a family tree, which we are familiar with. Due to this, it can also be called "The Family Tree of Genetics". All pedigree charts include a title, the actual chart, and a key/legend. You can form a pedigree chart based on sex-linked traits, genetic traits, and x-linked traits. For the chart, you always start out with the oldest living generation on top and work your way down and to present life. You show that two people are married by connecting them with a horizontal line. You show that a couple has had kids by a vertical line. The key includes the most important information in order to understand the actual chart. It shows what the circles and squares are, what it means if its shaded all the way, half the way , or not at all. It also tells if that certain individual is deceased or currently alive. You can also determine peoples genotypes from the pedigree charts. The phenotypes are easy to understand because all you have to do is look at the chart and its key. The recessive genotypes are also easy to figure out because there is only one available allele pair for a recessive trait. Lastly, for the dominant genotypes, you have to do Punnett Squares and check the possible offspring and its percentages in order to find the parent alleles.