June 27, 2003
It's not the milkman
Dear Abby is one of those guilty reading pleasures I like to indulge in from time to time. I especially love it when she has to educate her readers on issues such as Mendelian genetics, like today:
DEAR ABBY: There has been a new arrival in our family and I have an important question. Is it true that two brown-eyed, dark-haired people cannot be the parents of a blue-eyed, fair-haired child? If so, this is completely contrary to what I was taught in school.
It has always been my understanding that a child carries not only the genes of his or her parents, but also the genes of grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.
Please check with your experts and let me know as soon as possible. This debate has caused a huge rift in our family. -- RICHMOND, VA., READER
DEAR READER: I hope this short biology lesson will silence the nay-sayers:
In the 19th century, an Austrian monk and botanist named Gregor Mendel discovered the existence of "dominant" and "recessive" genes.
In a nutshell, his research proved that a child can inherit a recessive gene from an ancestor and have eye color, hair color, skin color and other features that are different from both its mother and father. This is called Mendelian law.
You can prove it to your disbelieving relatives by going to the library and checking out some books on Mendel's law of genetic inheritance and recessive genes. Please don't wait. They need educating before their ignorance causes the rift to be permanent.
Hee hee hee. Thank goodness she's around to ask these crucial questions that you simply couldn't find the answers to anywhere else. What would we do without her? Certainly not visit a library or - gasp! - research on the Internet!
I've attached my own proof for Richmond, VA Reader that Abby's right on target, circa 1977, as I happen to be a mutated recessive freak myself:
