Autosomal Dominant

In genetic inheritance, all the genes passed from parents to child are either dominant (more likely to show up) or recessive (mutated, or less likely to show up). A dominant autosome (a hearty gene – not tied to differentiation of sex) that reaches the child is more likely to “dominate” over any recessive traits passed by the either of the parents.

An example would be if you had a child with brown hair coming from one parent with brown hair and the other with auburn hair, the brown hair is autosomal dominant. Some diseases are autosomal dominant, requiring only one parent to pass it for the disease to be expressed in the child. In these cases, the disease will be passed down each generation and sex of the child does not matter.

An example of autosomal dominant would be if you had one parent with brown hair and the other with auburn hair have a child with brown hair. The brown hair is considered autosomal dominant. Some diseases are autosomal dominant, requiring only one parent to pass it for the disease to be expressed in the child. In these cases, the disease will be passed down from generation to generation and sex of the child does not matter.


x