inheritance

Inheritance is the actual passing of traits from one generation to the next, the working mechanism behind the broader fact of heredity. If heredity is the general truth that offspring resemble their parents, inheritance is the specific route by which a particular trait travels from parent to child.

At its core, inheritance works because parents donate copies of their genes to their offspring through eggs and sperm. Each parent typically contributes one copy of every gene, so the child carries two versions of most genes and, depending on which versions combine, expresses one outcome or another.

Geneticists describe many patterns of inheritance. A trait may be dominant or recessive, may sit on an ordinary chromosome or on a sex chromosome, and may depend on one gene or on hundreds acting together. Identifying the pattern lets a counselor estimate the chance that a trait or condition will appear in the next generation.

A useful clarification: in genetics, “inheritance” means the transmission of genes, not the transmission of acquired skills, wealth, or learned behaviour. A trait that a parent develops during life, such as a suntan or a learned language, is not passed on through genes to their children.