Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

name        Yacob
status      student

Question -  Hey. THis isn't about me, but a genetics q. on a friend.
Stop me if i'm wrong, but I always thought that to have left handedness,
you need to recesive left genes l l   If you have an R then it is
dominient, and takes over. This girls mum is left handed, and must have  l
l   So is her dad. Her brother is also left handed, having taken an l from
one, and an l from the other. His sister, is right handed. But?? If she
is, she must be R l or R r, and have taken a right from a parent. But the
parent can't have a right, or they'll be right handed too. So I'm thinking
that its not as simple as it looks. But can you try and explain?

Its been bugging me fer a while now.

Handedness is not necessarily inherited.

Van Hoeck
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It's not as simple as it looks.  The genetics of handedness is not fully
understood.  It's not as simple as right-dominant/left-recessive.  There are
theories involving several genes combining to produce the handedness trait,
but the genes responsible have not been identified.

Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director, PG Research Foundation
Darien, IL USA
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