Kirsten Schwandtner
Building Your Perfect Baby
Have you ever wanted to know what your baby will look like before it's even born?
If so, you are at the right place. All you have to do is provide us with your genes. Your genes are the molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. We take your genes and find you the perfect partner to create your perfect baby. We will look at both the genotype and phenotype of your baby. Genotype is the genetic makeup of a person. Phenotype is the physical appearance of a person based on their genes. Every baby recessives 23 chromosomes from each parent. All of the chromosomes code for different traits. The traits are passed on from the two parents. The passing of traits from the parents to their offspring/children is called heredity. The traits that the child gets are determined by the child's genes. Some examples of traits coded by genes are hair color, eye color, skin color, gender, nose size, eye shape and eyebrow thickness. For all the traits there are recessive and dominant alleles. A dominant allele is the allele that masks the recessive allele. Dominant alleles are represented by a capital letter. A recessive allele is the trait hidden by the dominant trait. Recessive alleles are represented by a lowercase letter. You're probably wondering what an allele is exactly. An allele is basically a form of a trait. When we are searching for your ideal partner we are looking at whether a person is heterozygous or homozygous for traits. Being heterozygous means the person has two different alleles. This means they have one recessive allele and one dominant allele. Being heterozygous for a trait also means the person is a hybrid for that trait.Being homozygous means the person has two of the same alleles. The traits that people are homozygous for also means the person is a purebred. With being a pure-breed for a trait the person could either be pure-breed for the dominant or recessive trait.
If so, you are at the right place. All you have to do is provide us with your genes. Your genes are the molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. We take your genes and find you the perfect partner to create your perfect baby. We will look at both the genotype and phenotype of your baby. Genotype is the genetic makeup of a person. Phenotype is the physical appearance of a person based on their genes. Every baby recessives 23 chromosomes from each parent. All of the chromosomes code for different traits. The traits are passed on from the two parents. The passing of traits from the parents to their offspring/children is called heredity. The traits that the child gets are determined by the child's genes. Some examples of traits coded by genes are hair color, eye color, skin color, gender, nose size, eye shape and eyebrow thickness. For all the traits there are recessive and dominant alleles. A dominant allele is the allele that masks the recessive allele. Dominant alleles are represented by a capital letter. A recessive allele is the trait hidden by the dominant trait. Recessive alleles are represented by a lowercase letter. You're probably wondering what an allele is exactly. An allele is basically a form of a trait. When we are searching for your ideal partner we are looking at whether a person is heterozygous or homozygous for traits. Being heterozygous means the person has two different alleles. This means they have one recessive allele and one dominant allele. Being heterozygous for a trait also means the person is a hybrid for that trait.Being homozygous means the person has two of the same alleles. The traits that people are homozygous for also means the person is a purebred. With being a pure-breed for a trait the person could either be pure-breed for the dominant or recessive trait.
Gregor Mendel: Discovered Genetics, "Father of Genetics"
3 Laws
1. Law of Segregation
The two forms of a gene (alleles) present in each organism separate into different cells during gamete formation.
2. Law of Independent Assortment
During gamete formation the separation of the alleles of one allelic pair is independent of the other separation of alleles. ( The allele given from one parent is not determined by the one the other parent gives.)
3. Law of Dominance
For each trait there is a gene that dominates or prevents the expression of the weaker (recessive) trait.
The two forms of a gene (alleles) present in each organism separate into different cells during gamete formation.
2. Law of Independent Assortment
During gamete formation the separation of the alleles of one allelic pair is independent of the other separation of alleles. ( The allele given from one parent is not determined by the one the other parent gives.)
3. Law of Dominance
For each trait there is a gene that dominates or prevents the expression of the weaker (recessive) trait.
We will apply Mendel's laws to our process of finding you your perfect partner that will allow you to have your perfect baby.
Now Lets Build a Baby!
In the chart above Amy is homozygous for the traits listed except for curly hair. She has also provided us with the phenotypes of how she wants her child to look.
With the information Amy provided for us we were able to use punnet squares to find the perfect match for her.
On the top of the punnet squares are Amy's alleles. Along the left sides are the alleles of her partner. With the following genotypes of the male we are able to guarantee almost all the traits except the hair being straight. There is a 50% chance the baby will have straight hair and a 50% it will have curly hair. We are unable to fully guarantee the baby will have straight hair due to the random chance of getting a certain alleles. Below are the genotypes and phenotypes the father will have to have to create the perfect baby.
Every time we match up a couple we give them the percentage of which their child will be male or female. Amy was okay with having either a male of female. Below is the punnett square that shows the percent of male and female offspring.
The punnet square above shows that Amy and Laine have a 50% chance to get a male or female. The pictures below are what Amy and Liane's baby could look like.