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GCSEBiologyWJECRevision Notes2. Variation, Homeostasis & Micro-organisms2.3 DNA & InheritancePolygenic Inheritance

Polygenic Inheritance (WJEC GCSE Biology)

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Ruth Brindle

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Polygenic Inheritance

  • Most characteristics are a result of multiple genes interacting, rather than a single gene

  • Characteristics that are controlled by more than one gene are described as being polygenic

  • Polygenic characteristics have phenotypes that can show a wide range of combinations in features

  • The inheritance of these polygenic characteristics is called polygenic inheritance (poly = many/more than one)

  • Polygenic inheritance is difficult to show using genetic diagrams because of the wide range of combinations

    • An example of polygenic inheritance is eye colour – while it is true that brown eyes are dominant to blue eyes, it is not as simple as this as eye colour is controlled by several genes

      • This means that there are several different phenotypes beyond brown and blue; green and hazel being two examples

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    Ruth Brindle

    Author: Ruth Brindle

    Expertise: Biology

    Ruth graduated from Sheffield University with a degree in Biology and went on to teach Science in London whilst also completing an MA in innovation in Education. With 10 years of teaching experience across the 3 key science disciplines, Ruth decided to set up a tutoring business to support students in her local area. Ruth has worked with several exam boards and loves to use her experience to produce educational materials which make the mark schemes accessible to all students.