Welcome
Amy and Karl want to have a baby. Their families suffer a genetic disorder that provokes haemophilia, and, even if they don't suffer the disease, they are worried to transmit the genetic disorder to their baby. The doctor answers them:
-It's ok. It's a girl. Don't worry about haemophilia.
-Yes, but, will she suffer the disease?
-I've just told you: as she is a girl, and not a boy, she won't suffer the disease.
Amy and Karl don't understand the point, which is apparently related to informations about their families the doctor asked them during the previous weeks.
But after this activity you will be able to answer Amy and Karl.
Image from Mediawiki.belonging to Taro Taylor. The original image
is not a description of any genetic disorder.
Your mission
Genetic disorders are diseases that can be inherited from parents to their descendence, and they are transmitted through generations following several kinds of patterns. When you know the pattern of inheritance of a certain genetic disease, you can also make predictions about the probability to suffer the disease for newborns, and be prepared to prevent its effects and treat the associated illnesses.In this project, you will learn about the mechanisms of heredity, and some of its main patterns, and apply your knowledge to discover from real data how a characteristic chosen by you (dimples, earlobe,...) is inherited.
In a first step, you will learn the two main techniques to analyze genetic information, to represent genetic information, and to identify genetic heredity models. In a second step you will develop a research project that will end with the creation of a Scientifi Poster to explain you conclusions.
Image from Mediawiki, liberated to the public domain by Rodha Baer.