What do genes do? How do genes make your hair a certain color or your nose a certain shape?

Question

Please Help Me--- I really don't get Genetics : )

Answer 1

genes code for mrna sequences which get translated to form proteins. these proteins are responsible for all your hereditary traits

Answer 2

Hi. Genes store the information on building proteins and it is these proteins that determine the characteristics you describe. If, for instance, you have a gene from an ancestor (not necessarily your parents) that encodes for green eyes (my personal favorite!) then you can have green eyes even if neither parent does. Don't feel bad about not having a good grasp of HOW this works. Science doesn't yet either.

Answer 3

Genes make up your genetic code.You get half your genes from your mother and half from your father. what makes your hair and eye color ect. depends if you have recessive or dominant genes.one dominant gene and recessive gene,would give you dark hair and brown eyes .You need 2 recessive genes to give you blue or green eyes. I hope this helps...

Answer 4

Each cell in the human body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes, which carry information that determines your traits.
Traits are characteristics you inherit from your parents; this means your parents pass some of their characteristics on to you through genes. For example, if both of your parents have green eyes, you might inherit the trait of green eyes from them. Or if your mom has freckles, you might inherit that trait and wind up with a freckled face. And genes aren't just in humans — all animals and plants have genes, too.
The doorbell rings. Busy in the kitchen fixing dinner, Nancy's dad calls out, "Answer the door, Nancy! My hands are full!" Nancy opens the front door, and suddenly a bunch of people she hasn't seen in 3 years pour into the house.

Aunt Rita hands Nancy a wrapped package and says, "Well, look at you! How you've grown. And you've got such beautiful red, curly hair! It runs in the family, you know. You look just like my grandmother!" Uncle Michael adds, "And she's going to be tall, like her father. Only 9 years old, and she looks like a basketball player already!"

Nancy makes a dash to the kitchen, wondering, "Huh? Aunt Rita's grandmother? Runs in the family? Basketball? What are they talking about?"

Genes (say: jeenz), that's what they're talking about. Genes are the things that determine physical traits — how we look — and lots of other stuff about us. They carry information that helps make you who you are: curly or straight hair, long or short legs, even how you might smile or laugh, are all passed through generations of your family in genes. Keep reading to learn more about genes and how they work.

What Is a Gene?
Each cell in the human body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes, which carry information that determines your traits (say: trates). Traits are characteristics you inherit from your parents; this means your parents pass some of their characteristics on to you through genes. For example, if both of your parents have green eyes, you might inherit the trait of green eyes from them. Or if your mom has freckles, you might inherit that trait and wind up with a freckled face. And genes aren't just in humans — all animals and plants have genes, too.

Genes hang out all lined up on thread-like things called chromosomes.
Chromosomes come in pairs, and there are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of genes in one chromosome. Together, all of the chromosomes and genes make up DNA, which is short for deoxyribonucleic acid.
Chromosomes are found inside cells, the very small units that make up all living things. A cell is so tiny that you can only see it through the lens of a strong microscope, and there are billions of cells in your body. Most cells have one nucleus.
The nucleus, which is sort of egg-shaped, is like the brain of the cell. It tells every part of the cell what to do. How does the nucleus know so much? As tiny as it is, the nucleus has more information in it than the biggest dictionary you've ever seen.
The doorbell rings. Busy in the kitchen fixing dinner, Nancy's dad calls out, "Answer the door, Nancy! My hands are full!" Nancy opens the front door, and suddenly a bunch of people she hasn't seen in 3 years pour into the house.

Aunt Rita hands Nancy a wrapped package and says, "Well, look at you! How you've grown. And you've got such beautiful red, curly hair! It runs in the family, you know. You look just like my grandmother!" Uncle Michael adds, "And she's going to be tall, like her father. Only 9 years old, and she looks like a basketball player already!"

Nancy makes a dash to the kitchen, wondering, "Huh? Aunt Rita's grandmother? Runs in the family? Basketball? What are they talking about?"

Genes (say: jeenz), that's what they're talking about. Genes are the things that determine physical traits — how we look — and lots of other stuff about us. They carry information that helps make you who you are: curly or straight hair, long or short legs, even how you might smile or laugh, are all passed through generations of your family in genes. Keep reading to learn more about genes and how they work.

What Is a Gene?
Each cell in the human body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes, which carry information that determines your traits (say: trates). Traits are characteristics you inherit from your parents; this means your parents pass some of their characteristics on to you through genes. For example, if both of your parents have green eyes, you might inherit the trait of green eyes from them. Or if your mom has freckles, you might inherit that trait and wind up with a freckled face. And genes aren't just in humans — all animals and plants have genes, too.

Genes hang out all lined up on thread-like things called chromosomes (say: kro-moh-somes). Chromosomes come in pairs, and there are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of genes in one chromosome. Together, all of the chromosomes and genes make up DNA, which is short for deoxyribonucleic (say: dee-ox-see-ri-bo-nyoo-clay-ik) acid.

Chromosomes are found inside cells, the very small units that make up all living things. A cell is so tiny that you can only see it through the lens of a strong microscope, and there are billions of cells in your body. Most cells have one nucleus (say: noo-clee-us). The nucleus, which is sort of egg-shaped, is like the brain of the cell. It tells every part of the cell what to do. How does the nucleus know so much? As tiny as it is, the nucleus has more information in it than the biggest dictionary you've ever seen.

In humans, a cell nucleus contains 46 individual chromosomes or 23 pairs of chromosomes (chromosomes come in pairs, remember? 23 X 2 = 46). Half of these chromosomes come from one parent and half come from the other parent. But not every living thing has 46 chromosomes inside of its cells. For instance, a fruit fly cell only has four chromosomes!


Each gene has a special job to do. It carries blueprints — the instructions — for making proteins in the cell.
Proteins are the building blocks for everything in your body. Bones and teeth, hair and earlobes, muscles and blood, all are made up of proteins (as well as other stuff). Those proteins help our bodies grow, work properly, and stay healthy. Scientists today estimate that each gene in the body may make as many as 10 different proteins. That's over 300,000 proteins!

Like chromosomes, genes come in pairs. Each of your biological parents has two copies of each of their genes, and each parent passes along just one copy to make up the genes you have. Genes that are passed on to you determine many of your traits, such as your hair color and skin color.

Maybe Nancy's mother has one gene for brown hair and one for red hair, and she passed the red hair gene on to Nancy. If her father has two genes for red hair, that could explain her red hair. Nancy ended up with two genes for red hair, one from each of her parents.

You can see genes at work if you think about all the breeds of dogs there are. They all have the genes that make them dogs instead of cats, fish, or people. But those same genes that make a dog a dog also make different dog traits. So some breeds are small and others are big. Some have long fur and others have short fur. Dalmatians have genes for white fur and black spots, and toy poodles have genes that make them small with curly fur. You get the idea!