Download Genetics in Harry Potter`s World!

Genetics in Harry Potter’s World!
What are some Phenotypes found in
the Harry Potter characters
Draco-Malfoy’s comment:
Sorcerer’s Stone
“All the Weasleys have red
hair, freckles, and more
children than they can
afford.”
Phenotypes
• “Harry had a thin face,
knobby knees, black
hair and bright green
eyes.”
• Sorcerer’s Stone
“A pale boy with
a pointed face
and white blond
hair, Draco
greatly
resembled his
father. His
Mother was
blonde too….
Applying Genetics to Harry Potter
Characters
• A genetic trait can be described in two ways:
– Phenotypes are observable traits resulting from
how one’s genes are expressed.
– Ex: hair color, eye color, sickle cell disease, etc.
– A Genotype consists of two letters that represent
a gene’s allele pair that results in a phenotype
How Are Wizards Made?
• Being a wizard or a muggle is all
decided by genetics
• All humans including wizards
receive one allele from each
parent
How Are Wizards Made?
• The allele for wizarding ability is m
• Wizards have the alleles mm
How Are Wizards Made?
• The allele for muggleness is M
• Muggles have the alleles Mm or MM
• M is dominant to m so you can only
be a wizard if you have no M allele
The
Malfoys
Narcissa
Malfoy (mm)
Lucius Malfoy
(mm)
Draco Malfoy
(m m )
The Malfoys are a ‘pure blood’ family
All their ancestors are wizards so they must have the alleles
mm
The
Potters
James Potter
(mm)
Lily Potter
(mm)
Harry Potter
(WW
mm )
Both Harry’s parents had magical ability so they must both
have been mm
They passed these alleles on to Harry
The Weasleys are pure blood wizards so they all have the alleles
mm
Hermione is a powerful witch so she must be mm
Mm
Mm
mm
Both her parents are muggles so they must be Mm
so they can give her a m allele each
Tom Riddle is a ‘half blood’.
His mother was a witch (mm) and his father was a muggle
His father must have had the alleles Mm so he could give him
the other m allele
Mm
mm
mm
Filch is a ‘squib’
Both his parents are mm so he should be too because he
can’t get an M allele from either parent but he can’t do any
magic
This means he has a mutation so his wizarding powers don’t
work or the man he thinks is his father isn’t really and his
mother had an affair with a muggle!
What wizarding alleles would Ron and Hermione’s children have?
Ron
(mm)
Hermione
(mm)
Children
(mm )
Their children could only get
the m allele from both
parents so they would all be
wizards
Ron
m
m
m
mm
mm
m
mm
mm
Hermione
What wizarding alleles would Ginny and Dudley’s children have?
If Dudley is Mm
Ginny
mm
Children
M or mM
mWW
mm
Dudley
Mm
Half of their children would
be likely to get the m allele
from both parents so they
would be wizards
The other half would be
likely to get an M allele from
Dudley and would be
muggles
Ginny
Dudley
m
M
m
m m
m M
m
m m
m M
What wizarding alleles would Ginny and Dudley’s children have?
If Dudley is MM
Ginny
mm
Children
M
m
WM
Dudley
MM
Their children would get the
m allele from Ginny and the
M allele from Dudley so they
would all be muggles
Dudley
M
M
m
M
mWM
M
mWM
m
M
mWM
M
mWM
Ginny
What wizarding alleles would you
expect Hermione’s
brothers and sisters to have?
The Granger’s children have a one in four
chance of getting m alleles from both parents
and having magical ability
They also have a one in four chance of getting
M alleles from both parents and being a
muggle
They could also
get only one
m from their
mother or father
and still be a
muggle
Mr Granger
m
M
m
m
m WW
M
mWM
M
M
mWM
M
M MM
Mrs Granger
Question 1
• Harry has dark brown
hair like his father, but
his mom had red hair.
Using the genotypes of
B and b, what possible
genotypes does each of
the Potters have?
• The phenotypes of the
Potters are:
– James Potter– Lily Potter-
– Harry Potter-
Using the genotypes of BB, Bb, bb, what are possible genotypes for
Harry’s parents?
Mom could be (she has red hair)
Dad could be (he has dark brown hair)
Using the genotypes of BB, Bb, bb, what are possible genotypes for
Harry’s parents?
Mom could be (she has red hair)
Dad could be (he has dark brown hair)
Mom could be bb
Dad could be BB or Bb
Given the possible genotypes of each parent,
complete the two punnet squares below
Given the punnet squares for the parents,
the only possible genotype for Harry is
Given the punnet squares for the parents,
the only possible genotype for Harry is Bb
Question 2: Harry marries Ginny who has red hair.
What are the possible Genotypes of their children’s
hair?
First: what are the genotypes for
Harry and Ginny’s hair color?
Harry is:
Ginny is:
First: what are the genotypes for
Harry and Ginny’s hair color?
Harry is: Bb
Ginny is: bb
Given the genotypes of Bb
and bb, we can fill in the
Punnet Square
Given the genotypes of Bb
and bb, we can fill in the
Punnet Square
Their
children
have a 50%
chance of
having red
hair or
brown hair