How can a mixed child come out with white skin when one parent has dark brown skin?

Question

I've heard some idiots say it's because the child has more of the white parent's genes,but that doesn't sound right... What's the scientific reason/biological explanation?

Answer 1

You were right about them being idiots. The same number of genes come from each parent.

How it works is like this. In humans, blue eyes are recessive to brown eyes. If a child has one of each gene, then the child will have brown eyes.

The genotype of the child or the parents speaks to the specific genes that they have. The genotype of the child is heterozygous for eye color.

The phenotype speaks to the physical characteristics that an organism has. The phenotype is that, among other traits, he has brown eyes. Because the trait of having brown eyes is present in the child, we would say that the gene for brown eyes has been expressed. The gene for blue eyes has been suppressed by heterozygous dominance.

If that child, having both a gene for brown and blue eyes grows up and has a child with a girl that also has the same two genes, then they could have a baby with blue eyes, even though they both have brown eyes. The only thing that would be impossible is to have two parents with blue eyes make a brown eyed baby. If the gene for brown eyes is present, it will always supress the gene for blue eyes.

In the case of skin color, the process of expression is very similar, although there are more genes involved than just one simple one. Skin color is the result of several genes working together. But in general, the genes for darker skin are dominant to those for lighter skin. If a child of a dark brown father and a light skinned mother has light skin, then there is a good chance that the father is heterozygous for skin color, meaning that he has genes that code for both light and dark skin. When he passed on his genes to the child, if the child gets the genes for light skin, he will also obviously get the same genes from the mother. I say "obvious" because if the mother had genes for dark skin, then she would be dark skinned herself. Just as in how I explained that two brown eyed people could produce a blue eyed child, two dark skinned people could produce a light skinned child.

Now, in order for the father to have a gene for light skin color, he MUST have had, at some point, even if it was very distant, had a light skinned ancestor. It still wouldn't be a bad idea for that father to have a DNA test done on the child, especially if the father's parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and great-great grandparents were all dark skinned.

If all of these were dark skinned, it would not be unreasonable to suspect the mother of cheating, but it still wouldn't be impossible for the child to have light skin, and be that father's child.

Hope this helps,
El Chistoso

Answer 2

The issue is between genotype and phenotype but the problem with human skin pigmentation is that more than a single gene factors into your melanin levels. The deal is that a mixed child has a unique complement of the parents genes, which in your child's case has produced a phenotype of white skin. Your grandchildren may very well have darker skin even if your child has kids with a white person. We like to think that skin color separates us in some meaningful way but it really is a subjective barrier that we have artificially created. I've included a link to a paper but Sturm, Box and Ramsey that's very readable and helps to explain the details in greater depth that I can manage.

Answer 3

you're conversing about Joseph Mendeleev's theory of dominant and recessive genes. depending upon the idea Black people contain the genetic textile of all and sundry. honest i do no longer purchase that. The question is that if all people began out Black and from Africa then how or perhaps as did people replace? And if people are replacing and new "races" are forming the position are they coming from? I understand the technique of evolution is sluggish yet truly something or someone should be on the cusp and we ought to continually be in a position to observe the evolution procedure spread. also there are a great number of political implication in contact with that theory that each and each one people got here from Africa and began out as Black people. This theory provides Europeans the justification for invading and taking African territories as their own. which will be like you living in a house all of your existence and all of unexpected some distant relative from out of nowhere comes and strikes in claiming that they have got a accurate to be there because initially their tremendous tremendous tremendous grand father owned the homestead and they are claiming their area of their inheritance. i elect to stay faraway from that theory only for those very motives. I say people are who they're and a couple of people abruptly merely can't create different sorts a people. I easily have not in any respect see Black people try this yet.

Answer 4

It has nothing to do with having more of less of the black/white genes......it has to do with Phenotype and Genotype...The genotype is the genes that are directly given to the offspring, and the phenotype is the consequence of those genes.

Skin pigmentation is determined by the amount of melanin present in the skin. The more the melanin the darker the skin.

Answer 5

you know those 13 chromosonal pairs that you always hear about? You know the last one is XX or XY. Well, when you put the pairs together you can get 1 piece from each parent or both pieces from one parent. So a child who is whiter would share more of those groupings with the white parent. In essence yes that child then does have more of the genetic tissue from the white parent.

Answer 6

I can't answer this in a fact answer but I do know that my sister in law is black and daddy is white when brandon was born he was white till he was 2. My niece was born on September 14, 2006 but died of SIDS at October 24, 2006 she was still white.

Answer 7

Probably because the child has more white ancestors than black. That same child could have a child with dark skin. Genetics are very complicated. We inherit traits from many different ancestors.

Answer 8

She was screwing around!!!!!!!!! Get a DNA test