Mendelian genetics — Foundational Concepts of Heredity + 5 more topics

Heredity is all about how characteristics, or traits, are passed down from parents to their offspring. This happens through segments of DNA called genes. Each gene has a specific job, like coding for eye color.

You get two copies of every gene, one from your mom and one from your dad. These copies aren't always identical; different versions of the same gene are called alleles. For example, for the eye color gene, there might be an allele for blue eyes and an allele for brown eyes.