COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
- It's commonly believed that one set of alleles is responsible for determining each trait, and there are only 2 different alleles (dominant and recessive) for each gene.
color in cats is controlled by at least 6 genes.
- It's also believed that our genes determine all of our characteristics, and cloned organisms are exact copies of the original.
also involved. Epigenetics (the study of heritable changes that occur without changes in the genome)
has shown that gene expression in identical mice has shown changes from factors such as diet and
exposure to toxins.
Furthermore, a number of studies with identical twins have suggested that these changes can
accumulate over the life of the organism.
- All mutations are harmful.
harmful and cause the organism not to develop properly. However, many mutations are silent and
some prove beneficial.
- A dominant trait is the most likely to be found in the population.
that exists in the greatest proportion in a population; however, “dominant” refers only to the allele’s
expression over another allele.