1.4 Mendelian Genetics and Inherited Traits

Genetic Changes and Cancers

Pedigree's and Inheritance

A pedigree in genetics is a diagram showing the lineage or genealogy of an individual and all the direct ancestors, usually to analyze or follow the inheritance of trait.

Hemophilia has been called a "royal disease". This is because the hemophilia gene was passed from Queen Victoria, who became Queen of England in 1837, to the ruling families of Russia, Spain, and Germany. Queen Victoria's gene for hemophilia was caused by spontaneous mutation.

Hemophilia is inherited in a sex-linked recessive pattern. The genes associated with these conditions are located on the X chromosome, which is one of the two sex chromosomes. In males (who have only one X chromosome), one altered copy of the gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the condition. In females (who have two X chromosomes), a mutation would have to occur in both copies of the gene to cause the disorder. Because it is unlikely that females will have two altered copies of this gene, it is very rare for females to have hemophilia. A characteristic of an altered gene carried on the X chromosome is that fathers cannot pass this sex-linked trait to their sons.