Heredity in Science

Heredity is the process by which traits or characteristics are passed from parents to their offspring. It is the reason why offspring resemble their parents and inherit specific features.

Key Points:

• Genes and DNA control inheritance.
• Dominant traits (e.g., brown eyes) are expressed if one allele is present.
• Recessive traits (e.g., blue eyes) are expressed only when both alleles are recessive.
• Mendel’s Laws describe how traits are inherited:
• Segregation – each parent passes one allele for a trait.
• Independent Assortment – genes for different traits are inherited separately.

Example: Eye color inheritance – brown eyes (dominant) vs blue eyes (recessive).