Passing Through the Generations: How to Read a Pedigree Pedigrees Passing Through the Generations: How to Read a Pedigree

Pedigrees Family history that shows how a trait is inherited over several generations. Carriers: those heterozygous for a trait. Can determine if autosomal (occurs equally both sexes) sex-linked (usually seen in males) heterozygous (dominant phenotype) homozygous (dominantdominant phenotype, recessive recessive phenotype)

Pedigree Symbols

Dominant Pedigree affected individuals have at least one affected parent the phenotype generally appears every generation two unaffected parents only have unaffected offspring

Recessive Pedigree unaffected parents can have affected offspring affected progeny are both male and female

Sex-linked Recessive

Kentucky Blues Pedigree of Luna Fugate taken from the genealogically correct Fugate pedigree