Pedigrees

OCW Scholar

Session Overview

Genetics in humans cannot be studied by performing controlled crosses rather, analysis of inheritance patterns in an existing population must be used. An approach, called pedigree analysis, is used to study the inheritance of genes in humans. This session will outline how to construct a family pedigree, and how to interpret the information in a pedigree using Mendel's laws of inheritance and an understanding of the chromosome theory of inheritance.

Learning Objectives

To construct a pedigree based on a family history.
To analyze the information in a pedigree by applying the laws of inheritance.
To determine the mode of inheritance of a trait based upon the information in a pedigree.
To predict the probability a child of particular parents would inherit the trait in question.

Session Activities

Lecture Video

For this session, watch the video lecture called "Human Genetics" by Prof. Eric Lander recorded in 2004, starting partway into the lecture until the end.