What is a truely genetically-inherited characteristic?
In humans great care must be taken when stating that a particular characteristic is genetically inherited. A truely genetically inherited characteristic or phenotype is one where conclusive evidence has been provided to clearly support the finding that a given gene is responsible for that given phenotype. A statistically-acquired characteristic is one that can be predicted to be present in an individual based on the presence of that characteristic in the individual’s parents. A talent for music in the parents, for example, might give rise to a similar musical talent in the offspring. It would be very wrong to assume that the talent for music in the offspring is necessarily genetically inherited from the parents. Case Study – an error of judgement: the crime chromosome is identified In 1965, Patricia Jacobs and coworkers were to publish an article in Nature revealing that 4% of inmates in a scottish prison carried two copies of the Y chromosome rather than one. Within the general popula
