The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity

Mendelian heredity explains how traits are passed from parents to their offspring through individual units called genes. Each person inherits two copies of each gene—one from each parent. These genes can come in different versions, known as alleles. Some alleles are dominant, meaning they determine the trait even if only one copy is present, while others are recessive and only influence the trait if both copies are recessive. During reproduction, these alleles segregate and randomly combine to produce the offspring's specific trait pattern, following predictable inheritance patterns described by Gregor Mendel.