Human Genetics report

Final Report of Human Genetics Project

(Survey Based Collaborative Project)

(2015-16)

Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings.  Inheritance of traits for humans is based upon Gregor Mendel's model of inheritance. Mendel deduced that inheritance depends upon discrete units of inheritance, called factors or genes.

A physical characteristic brought about by the expression of a gene or many genes. Variations in these characteristics are dependent upon the particular alleles an individual has for the genes determining the trait….

The terms dominant and recessive describe the inheritance patterns of certain traits. That is, they describe how likely it is for a certain phenotype to pass from parents to offspring.

There are two copies of each gene. The two copies, called alleles, can be slightly different from each other. The differences can cause variations in the protein that’s produced, or they can change protein expression depending upon when, where, and how much protein is made. Proteins affect traits, so variations in protein activity or expression can produce different phenotypes.

A dominant allele produces a dominant phenotype in individuals who have one copy of the allele, which can come from just one parent. For a recessive allele to produce a recessive phenotype, the individual must have two copies, one from each parent. An individual with one dominant and one recessive allele for a gene will have the dominant phenotype. They are generally considered “carriers” of the recessive allele: the recessive allele is there, but the recessive phenotype is not expressed.

This project gave us an opportunity to learn the concept in an interesting way. We were not familiar with some of the traits. It was really interesting to know about them and conduction of survey was a real fun.

It was really fascinating to know that our external makeup (phenotype) depends on our genes (genotype), which we receive from our parents. We found it really shocking that with the help of a small gene an accurate picture of an individual can be made.

According to our general observation of traits around us we expected that dominant trait would be more prevalent but it was not find so with all the traits. This has doubled our confidence and interests in the project.

A survey was conducted on the following Genetic Traits:

Earlobes: Free ear lobes (dominant trait) vs. Attached ear lobes (recessive trait)
Free earlobes are those that hang below the point of attachment to the head.  Attached ear lobes are attached directly to the side of the head.

Forelock: White forelock (dominant trait) vs. No white forelock (recessive trait)
A white forelock is a patch of white hair, usually located at the hairline.
Widow's Peak (below) is dominant over no widow's peak hairline.

Dimples: Dimples (dominant trait) vs. No dimples (recessive trait)
Dimples are natural dents in the face to the right or left of the mouth.

If a person has only one dimple, they should be counted as having dimples.

Thumbs: Straight thumb (dominant trait) vs. Curved thumb (recessive trait)

When viewed from the side as in the illustration below, curved thumbs can

be seen as part of a circle.

Pinky: Straight pinky (recessive trait) vs. Bent pinky (dominant trait)

Mid-digit hair: Mid-digit hair (dominant trait) vs. No mid-digit hair (recessive trait)

 

Red/Green Colorblindness:  Red-green colorblindness is caused by a single gene located on the X-chromosome. This gene codes for a protein in the eye that detects certain colors of light. When this gene is defective, the eye cannot differentiate between red and green.

You need at least one working copy of the gene to be able to see red and green. Since boys have just one X-chromosome, which they receive from their mother, inheriting one defective copy of the gene will render them colorblind. Girls have two X-chromosomes; to be colorblind they must inherit two defective copies, one from each parent. Consequently, red-green colorblindness is much more frequent in boys (1 in 12) than in girls (1 in 250).

Efforts of RDPS Students:

Observations taken by RDPS students,

Analysis of the Data

&

Comparison with the Participants around the world

Observations of class VIII students
		8A				8B			8C			8D				Total No.  of students	Percentage of students
Genetic Traits	Dominant/Recessive Genetic Traits	No. of Students	Total No. of Students		Percentage	No. of Students	Total No. of Students	Percentage	No. of Students	Total No. of Students	Percentage	No. of Students	Total No. of Students		Percentage
Earlobes	Free (Dominant)	37	40		93	36	40	90	38	40	95	38	40		95	149	94
	Attached (Recessive)	3			8	4		10	2		5	2			5	11	7
hite Forelock	With White Forelock (Dominant)	0			0	0		0	0		0	0			0	0	0
	Without White Forelock (Recessive)	40			100	40		100	40		100	40			100	160	100
Dimples	With Dimples (Dominant)	10			25	7		18	8		20	2			5	27	17
	Without Dimples (Recessive)	30			75	33		83	32		80	38			95	133	84
Thumb	Straight Thumb (Dominant)	13			33	9		23	8		20	14			35	44	28
	Curved Thumb (Recessive)	27			68	31		78	32		80	26			30	116	64
Pinky	With Bent Pinky (Dominant)	22			55	24		60	27		68	26			65	99	62
	With Straight Pinky (Recessive)	18			45	16		40	13		33	14			35	61	39
Mid-Digit Hair	With Mid-Digit Hair (Dominant)	36			90	30		75	12		30	28			70	106	67
	With No Mid-Digit Hair (Recessive)	4			10	10		25	28		70	12			30	54	34
Red-Green Colour Blindness	With Normal Colour Vision	40			100	40		100	40		100	40			100	160	100
	Showing Colour Blindness	0			0	0		0	0		0	0			0	0	0

RDPS Data

Genetic Traits	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	94	6
White Forelocks	0	100
Dimples	16	84
Thumb	28	64
Pinky	62	38
Mid-digit hair	66	34
Red-Green Colour Blindness	100	0

Fourteen Schools from all over the world were taken for Comparison

S.No.	Date Submitted	School	Class	City	State	Country
1	11/12/2014	BVS Parsi High School	XD	Karachi	Sindh	Pakistan
2	12/16/2014	Mountain. Brook Junior High	7th Period	Mountain Brook	AL	USA
3	12/16/2014	Princeton High School	Genetics	Princeton	NJ	USA
4	1/28/2015	West Essex Reg. High School	Period 1	North Caldwell	NJ	USA
5	2/3/2015	Santa Barbara Junior High	6th Period	Santa Barbara	CA	USA
6	2/4/2015	Ridgeview High School	Period 1	Bakersfield	CA	United States
7	2/16/2015	Quibbletown Middle School	Period 1/2	Piscataway	New Jersey	United States
8	2/16/2015	Korea International School	A Block Biology KIS	Seoul	NO STATE	Korea
9	2/19/2015	Polo Park Middle School	Smith	Wellington	FL	United States
10	3/12/2015	Notre Dame Academy	8T	Louisville	Kentucky	United States of America
11	3/12/2015	Norwell Middle School	SOHO	Norwell	Massachusetts	United States
12	3/12/2015	Goochland High School	Pre-AP Biology- Borgie	Goochland	VA	USA
13	3/12/2015	Center for Teaching and Learning	Inquisitors	The Woodlands	TX	USA
14	3/12/2015	High Tech High North County	Jennifer Howard\'s Advisory	San Marcos	California	USA

Ear Lobes					White Forelocks
Total Students	free	% Dominant	attached	% Recessive	Total Students	with	% Dominant	without	% Recessive
50	46	92	4	8	50	0	0	50	100
23	19	83	4	18	23	0	0	23	100
169	113	67	56	34	167	23	14	144	87
119	92	78	27	23	119	0	0	119	100
32	6	19	28	88	32	1	4	31	97
21	18	86	3	15	21	11	53	10	48
23	17	74	6	27	23	0	0	23	100
18	5	28	13	73	18	0	0	18	100
70	55	79	15	22	70	0	0	70	100
23	17	74	6	27	23	0	0	23	100
23	16	70	7	31	23	0	0	23	100
75	40	54	35	47	75	10	14	65	87
31	17	55	14	46	31	0	0	31	100

Dimples							Thumbs
Total Students		free	% Dominant	attached		% Recessive	Total Students	with	% Dominant	without	% Recessive
50		17	34	33		66	50	24	48	26	52
23		6	27	17		74	23	9	40	24	105
168		73	44	95		57	179	83	47	96	54
119		57	48	62		53	119	47	40	72	61
32		11	35	21		66	32	24	75	8	25
21		11	53	10		48	21	11	53	10	48
23		8	35	15		66	23	13	57	10	44
18		7	39	11		62	18	16	89	2	12
70		26	38	44		63	70	29	42	41	59
23		9	40	14		61	23	2	9	21	92
23		6	27	17		74	23	11	48	12	53
75		8	11	67		90	75	16	22	59	79
31		12	39	19		62	31	10	33	21	68
15		3	20	12		80	15	7	47	8	54
Pinky							Mid-Digit Hair
Total Students	free		% Dominant	attached	% Recessive		Total Students	with	% Dominant	without	% Recessive
50	38		76	12	24		50	28	56	22	44
23	17		74	6	27		23	0	0	23	100
169	54		32	115	69		168	67	40	101	61
119	63		53	56	48		119	60	51	59	50
32	2		7	30	94		32	0	0	32	100
21	10		48	11	53		21	3	15	18	86
23	10		44	13	57		23	4	18	19	83
18	2		12	16	89		18	6	34	12	67
70	21		30	49	70		70	44	63	26	38
23	11		48	12	53		23	0	0	23	100
23	12		53	11	48		23	9	40	14	61
75	26		35	49	66		75	45	60	30	40
31	3		10	28	91		31	15	49	16	52

Red-Green Color blindness
Total Students	Colour Blind	% Recessive	Normal Vision	% Dominant
50	0	0	50	100
23	1	5	22	96
22	1	5	21	96
119	16	14	103	87
32	1	4	31	97
21	2	10	19	91
23	2	9	21	92
18	0	0	18	100
70	2	3	68	98
23	0	0	23	100
23	2	9	21	92
75	2	3	73	98
31	0	0	31	100

                                                                                                                                                             

Comparative Analysis of Genetic Traits of all the Fifteen Schools of Various Countries

	1		2		3
Genetic Traits	Rukmini Devi Public School (India)		BVS Parsi High School (Pakistan)		West Essex Regional High School (USA)
	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	94	6	92	8	70	30
White Forelocks	0	100	0	100	0	100
Dimples	17	84	34	66	34	66
Thumb	28	64	48	52	38	62
Pinky	62	38	76	24	36	64
Mid-digit hair	66	34	56	44	34	66
Red-Green Color Blindness	100	0	100	0	90	10

	4		5		6
Genetic Traits	Mountain Brook Junior High (USA)		Princeton High School       (USA)		Quibbletown Middle School (USA)
	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	82	18	66	34	74	26
White Forelocks	0	100	14	87	0	100
Dimples	27	73	43	57	35	66
Thumb	27	73	47	53	57	44
Pinky	73	27	31	69	44	56
Mid-digit hair	0	100	40	60	18	82
Red-green Color blindness	96	4	96	4	97	3

	7		8		9
Genetic Traits	Santa Barbara Junior High (USA)		Ridgeview High School      (USA)		Korea International School (Korea)
	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	12	88	86	14	28	72
White Forelocks	3	97	53	48	0	100
Dimples	34	66	53	48	38	62
Thumb	75	25	53	48	88	12
Pinky	6	94	48	52	12	88
Mid-digit hair	0	100	14	86	34	66
Red-green Color blindness	96	4	10	90	100	0

	10		11		12
Genetic Traits	Polo Park Middle School  (USA)		Notre Dame Academy       (USA)		Norwell Middle School (USA)
	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	79	21	74	26	70	30
White Forelocks	0	100	0	100	0	100
Dimples	38	62	40	60	26	74
Thumb	42	58	8	92	48	52
Pinky	30	70	48	52	52	48
Mid-digit hair	62	38	0	100	40	60
Red-green Color blindness	98	2	100	0	92	8

	13		14		15
Genetic Traits	Goochland High School (USA)		Center for Teaching and Learning (USA)		High Tech High North County (USA)
	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	54	46	55	45	80	20
White Forelocks	14	86	0	100	0	100
Dimples	10	90	38	62	20	80
Thumb	22	78	32	68	46	54
Pinky	34	66	10	90	40	60
Mid-digit hair	60	40	48	52	33	67
Red-green Color blindness	98	2	100	0	0	0

Global Average Genetic Traits

	Average of all the Schools
Genetic Traits	% Dominant	% Recessive
Ear Lobes	68	32
White Forelocks	5	95
Dimples	32	68
Thumb	44	56
Pinky	40	60
Mid-digit hair	34	66
Red-Green Colour Blindness	90	10

         

Analysis of the Data with respect to Surveyed parameters

·         For any dominant trait to represent phenotypically, Genotype would be TT (Homozygous Dominant), Tt (Heterozygous Dominant)

·         For any recessive trait to represent phenotypically, Genotype would be tt (Homozygous Recessive)

·         According to the data, it seems that Dominant trait is not always common in population. We can see that in Genetic trait like Free Earlobes (Dominant), Normal Vision (Dominant) the population is more common, but in traits like without white forelock (Recessive), without Dimples (Recessive), Curved Thumb (Recessive), No mid digit hair (Recessive) & Straight Pinkies (Recessive) are more common in population.

·         The dominant trait is prevalent only in 2 of 7 traits surveyed. This proves that there is no relationship between how often a trait occurs and dominates.

·         Finally it is concluded that it is always not necessary that a dominant trait is more prevalent.

Our teacher gave a special lecture on the topic Genetics for better understanding of the concept, which was very informative.

This project helped us to to think logically and scientifically. If we get a chance to perform such a valuable task again we would like to conduct survey in our community too. We would like to check more genetic features and body disorders associated with genes. Working on this project was an enjoyable experience and we are looking forward to participate in such projects in future too.

Evidences in the form of Photographs are displayed

White Forelock                                                            Ear Lobes 

            

 

                   Mid Digit Hair                                                        Dimples

            

 

         Red Green Color Blindness                                              Thumb

                                                                  

                                                                                  Pinky

         

This project is successfully completed by the valuable guidance of our Principal Ma’am Mrs. Anita Garg, Head of Computer Department Ms. Rucche, Project Coordinator Ms. Nidhi and Computer Teacher Ms. Medha.

Thanks from Rukmini Devi Public School, Delhi (India)