Human Genetics Lab

Objective: Are your traits unique?

Hypothesis:
My traits aren’t as unique as others because black hair and brown eyes is really common.
Materials: Mirror, class

Place a “D” or “r” in the Me column for the trait that describes you. Write the class numbers. Tell whether the trait is dominant or recessive.
Genetic Traits Table
Access the Human Genetics Lab Slideshow with Class Data Here
TRAIT Me Class/ Class/
DOM REC

1. Tongue rolling (dominant) D 24 5

2. Bent little fingers (dominant) D 7 22

3. Widow's peak (dominant) D 4 26

4. Hitchhiker's thumb (recessive) r 19 10

5. Hand clasp (L. thumb over R.- dominant) D 18 11

6. Arm folding (R. over L. – dominant) D 13 16

7. Free earlobe (dominant) D 23 6

8. Chin cleft (dominant) D 3 26

9. Hair on mid-finger joints (dominant) r 5 24

10. Long Second toe (dominant) D 15 14

11. Ear points (dominant) D 19 10

12. Dimples (dominant) r 12 17

 13. Curly hair (dominant) r 13 16

14. Index finger shorter than ring finger (dominant) r 20 9

15. Eye Color (Brown or Black is dominant) D 26 3

16. PTC Taster (Dominant) r 23 6

Totals (dominant vs recessive) 243 221

10/16

Final Percentages: 62 52% 48%

perce
nt
domin
ant

Calculate your percentage of dominant and recessive traits

#dom/16 X 100 = _____62.5____%
#rec/16 X 100 = ____43.75______%
Compare with the class Avg

Genetic Wheel
● Fill In the Gene Wheel Below
● Start in the center; Color in the space of your trait
● Move to the next circle based on your trait; Color your trait
● Keep following your traits until you reach the outside of the circle
● Your number is on the outside of the wheel
● Determine your number using the Genetics Wheel.
My Number is: 06
Go to: http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythintro.html
Introduction- Write a paragraph (do not number your answers) explaining why this lab is misleading when learning about genetics.
1) Explain why the traits are sometimes difficult to assess in terms of dominant vs. recessive.
2) Propose a reason why some of the traits listed as being dominant might not show up that frequently in the American Population.
3) What kinds of human traits could be better to study?
4) Why does the author think it would be better to study cat fur?
They can be hard to assess because sometimes some traits such as hitchhikers' thumb can be found in the middle of dominant and recessive.The
reason that dominant genes aren’t that frequent in people is that it might not even be controlled by just your genes it might be more
complicated. Cat fur have genetics that are well established because of cat breeders.

Select 2 of the traits listed in the left margin of "Intro to the Myths (human genetics)" web page. http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythintro.html
Please answer the following questions for each trait you selected. Write your answers in a complete paragraph form (do not number your
answers)
1) What is the trait you chose to study?
2) Why did you choose that trait?
3) What is the myth about that trait?
4) What is probably the truth about that trait?
5) How does our class data support or deny the probable truth?

Trait #1

Ear Wax and I chose this one because I was interested and ear wax and I didn’t think it was affected by genes. The myth is that most people don’t
think it's controlled by genes but it is actually controlled by a gene and two alleles.We didn’t test earwax during class.

Trait #2

I chose the gene for hitchhikers' thumb because I have it. The myth of this trait is that people think it is controlled of one gene but in reality it is
controlled with many different genes. Our class data doesn’t really support this because we can’t actually see what genes were chosen in order
to give us hitchhikers thumb.
Conclusion- After writing your trait paragraphs, please write a conclusion paragraph (do not number your answers) explaining your findings
about the nature of science as a result of this lab. (HINT- think about the process of measuring & data analysis, classifying traits, research to
validate data).
1) Remember to compare your hypothesis to the results for you and for the class.
2) Be sure to address errors that may have happened in the data.
3) Suggest some other ways that we could study dominant versus recessive traits.
4) Compare your results to your hypothesis (class and individual results)
5) Discuss some reasons there might be a difference between the expected (Example: 75%:25%) ratios and what happened in our class results

Our hypothesis was that all traits were controlled by one gene even though some traits are controlled by many such as hitchhikers' thumb. Some
errors that could happen is that we could not fully be recessive or dominant so we are in the middle. For example hitchhikers’ thumb is when
your thumb curves. If your thumb slightly curves. What would that be called? The dominant ratio wasn’t that much higher than the recessive so
by seeing our results we can see that just being a dominant gene doesn’t mean they are as popular.