The Basics of Inheritance and DNA
Think of DNA as nature's instruction manual - it's a twisted ladder (double helix) made of two strands that contain all the information needed to build you. Your genome is your complete genetic package, and scientists use it to trace diseases and even work out how humans migrated across the planet.
Genes are like individual recipes within that instruction manual, each coding for specific proteins your body needs. When your cells need to make a protein, they use transcription - copying the gene's instructions onto mRNA, which then travels to ribosomes where the actual protein gets built from amino acids.
Mutations happen when the DNA sequence changes, but don't panic - most mutations don't actually affect how proteins work. However, some can cause inherited disorders like polydactyly (extra fingers or toes), which is a dominant trait, meaning you only need one copy of the gene to have the condition.
Quick Tip: Remember that your genotype is the actual genes you have, whilst your phenotype is what you can actually see (like your height or hair colour).
