carrier
individual heterozygous for a recessive disorder such as cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sachs disease
pedigree
diagrammed family history that used to study inheritance patterns of trait through several generations and that can be used to predict disorders in future offspring
autosome
chromosome the is not a sex chromosome.
codominance
is an inheritance pattern in which the heterozygous genotype results in which in a intermediate phenotype between the dominant and recessive phenotype.
incomplete dominance
Complex inheritance pattern in which the heterozygous phenotype is intermediate between those of the 2 homozygous parent organisms.
multiple alleles
Having more than 2 alleles for a specific trait.
polygenic trait
Characteristic, such as eye color or skin color, that results from the interaction of multiple gene pairs.
sex chromosome
X or Y chromosome; paired sex chromosomes determine an individual's gender--XX are females; XY are males.
sex-linked trait
Characteristic, such as red/green color blindness; controlled by genes on the X chromosome; also called an X-linked trait.
karyotype
Micrograph in which the pairs of homologous chromosomes are arranged in decreasing size.
nondisjuction
Cell division in which the sister chomatids do not separate correctly, resulting in gametes with an abnormal number of chromosomes.
telomere
Protective cap made of DNA that is found on the ends of a chromosome.
epistasis
a characteristic that has more than one pair of possible trait