Genetics
H e a l t h f o r l i f e 1. What are Genes? What roles do they play?
Genes give the directions for building protein that make our bodies function. They give instructions on how to make or operate all parts of out body. 2. Describe what dominant and regressive genes are. Give some examples.
Dominant Gene- A gene which, when present on a chromos ome, passes on a certain physical characteristic, even when the gene is present in only one copy.
Recessive Gene- A gene which must be present on both chromosomes in a pair to show outward signs of a certain characteristic.
Examples
Dominant Gene- Green or Hazel Eyes, large eyes, Dwarfism
Recessive Gene-Blue or Grey Eyes, small Eyes, Normal Growth 3. What is heredity? How important is it in influencing who we are?
Heredity helps define us from our parents and who we are. Heredity is the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another. 4. Steve Rogers and Eric Grothe were outstanding Rugby League players in 1970 and 80’s. each has a son who has gone on to league at the ‘state of origin’ level. Should we be surprised by this? Give your reasons.
Their sons have the ‘state of origin’ level because of their father’s genes and have been passed on to them. They have pass on their genes and they were very sporty and great at Rugby league, so their sons will also be great at a young age from the genes pass down. 5. What are the different options of the eye colour of their children if one parent has blue eyes and the other has brown?
Brown, Blue, Dark Blue, Dark Brown 6. How can heredity affect our health? Give some examples of some health problems that can be inherited from out parents (list at least 7). Try www.healthline.com
If a certain disease is has happen in your family tree line and most people had it, It would be most likely you will get it. Knowing this is useful because you could solve that problem so you don’t get it in the future. Examples are visual problems, breast cancer, lung cancer, 7. Why is it important to be aware of our relatives’ health problems?
This way we can know what health problem occurred most and we could solve the problem for ourselves and not have a high chance of getting it. 8. What can we do to ensure we have a long healthy life?
To ensure a long healthy life we can be active and have the exercise and the rest and sleep we need. The education we need and fun and happiness. We can also solve the health problems that occurred the most in our family.