counter free hit unique web

Ask a Geneticist

geneticist3.JPG

Do you have a burning question about genetics that’s been keeping you up at night? Ever wonder why the combination of red hair and brown eyes is so rare? There are two great resources currently available online for anyone who is curious about genetics.

AsktheGeneticist is a partnership between the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University and the Department of Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The mission of AsktheGeneticist “is to answer questions about genetic concepts, and the etiology, treatment, research, testing, and predisposition to genetic disorders.” AsktheGeneticist has a genetic genealogy section, but it’s pretty sparse.

The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California has partnered with the Department of Genetics at Stanford University to present “Genetics: Technology with a Twist.” The interactive site has an ‘Ask The Geneticist’ section where you can ask a Stanford geneticist a question.

The site also has an interactive eye calculator you can use to predict the color of your child’s eyes (for fun, of course). For example, both my wife and I have brown eyes, but both our mothers have blue eyes. According to the calculator (which takes other factors into account), our child had a 75% chance of have brown eyes, 10.9% green, and 14.0% blue. Note that these percentages suggest that he might have had a 0.1% chance of no eye color (just kidding, of course!). Our son, against the odds, has blue eyes.

Although these websites could be both entertaining and a great source of information, I don’t recommend their use for the diagnosis or treatment of any type of genetic disorder.

4 Comments

  1. Amy
    Posted 12 February 2008 at 11:33 pm | Permalink

    Hi,

    I want to know how Amy’s relation title to Ervan, and Joy’s relation Title to Ervan.

    - Amy & Joy’s moms are sisters, so Amy and Joy are cousins.
    - Joy’s father’s mother’s brother’s daughter’s marries Ervan’s mom’s brother, so they have a child named Alex.
    - So Joy shares the same great-grandparents with Alex.
    - So Basically, Joy’s grandma on her dad’s side is distantly related to Ervan.
    - Based on these connections, what is Amy’s relation title to Ervan, and if they are related at all.
    - What is Joy’s relation title to Ervan and are they relatives?

    Thanks,

    Amy

  2. Amy
    Posted 12 February 2008 at 11:47 pm | Permalink

    Hi,

    I want to know how Amy’s relation title to Ervan, and Joy’s relation Title to Ervan.

    - Amy & Joy’s moms are sisters, so Amy and Joy are cousins.
    - Joy’s father’s mother’s brother’s daughter’s marries Ervan’s mom’s brother, so they have a child named Alex.
    - So Joy shares the same great-grandparents with Alex.
    - So Basically, Joy’s grandma on her dad’s side is distantly related to Ervan.
    - Based on these connections, what is Amy’s relation title to Ervan, and if they are related at all.
    - What is Joy’s relation title to Ervan and are they relatives?

    Thanks,

    Amy

  3. Valerie Soto
    Posted 12 March 2008 at 7:39 pm | Permalink

    My daughter was diagnosed at 22 months with infantile autism. At 18 months old she regressed. She lost speech, social interaction, and started these very odd repetitive behaviors. Her pediatrician ordered a battery of tests and the tests came back with high levels of beta alanine and other elevated amino acids. We just saw a genetics specialist and they have since diagnosed her with hyper beta-alaninemia. My problem is I have no clue about this disorder and we are trying to get some basic information. Is this disorder a urea cycle disorder? We have tried to goggle the diagnosis but nothing specific pops up.

  4. Chris Wakeman
    Posted 2 April 2009 at 3:46 pm | Permalink

    Dear Sir / Madam,

    Would you kindly advise me if a FISH test for Angelman’s Syndrome shows both the maternal and paternal copies of chromsome 15?

    Or does the FISH test only show the deletions or microdletions in the maternal copy of chromosome 15?

    I look forward to your reply.

    Kind regards,

    Chris Wakeman.

5 Trackbacks

  1. By ScienceRoll on 15 May 2007 at 6:51 am

    links from Technorati The real life of pseudogenes (Scientific American) by Mark Gerstein, Deyou Zheng (pdf) A perfect overview of pseudogenes, pseudogenomes, differences in pseudogenes in a well-illustrated article. Ask a Geneticist (The Genetic Genealogist) So if you still have questions, ask a geneticist as described by Blaine Bettinger. Do you have a burning question about genetics that’s been keeping you up at night? Ever wonder why the combination of red hair and brown

  2. By ScienceRoll on 15 May 2007 at 6:51 am

    links from Technorati The real life of pseudogenes (Scientific American) by Mark Gerstein, Deyou Zheng (pdf) A perfect overview of pseudogenes, pseudogenomes, differences in pseudogenes in a well-illustrated article. Ask a Geneticist (The Genetic Genealogist) So if you still have questions, ask a geneticist as described by Blaine Bettinger. Do you have a burning question about genetics that’s been keeping you up at night? Ever wonder why the combination of red hair and brown

  3. By Gene Genie for 19 May 2007 « Gene Genie on 19 May 2007 at 8:44 am

    [...] opossum. What’s the solution to all this confusion? Well, at sites like Genetic Genealogists Ask the Geneticist we have some answers. More likely this type of site will bring up collaboration and communication. [...]

  4. By Gene Sherpas: Personalized Medicine and You on 19 May 2007 at 11:49 am

    links from Technorati What’s the solution to all this confusion? Well, at sites like Genetic Genealogists Ask the Geneticist we have some answers. More likely this type of site will bring up collaboration and communication.

  5. [...] Ask a Geneticist (The Genetic Genealogist) [...]

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*