Importance of Family Traits

The importance of family traits is undeniable.

Family traits can be used to:

1. Determine Intelligence:

Intelligence is an important family trait that can be passed on from parent to offspring. Parents’ academic traits can help choose the right career path for a student.

2. Determine or Detect Diseases:

Some certain diseases run in the family. They are inherited by offspring, for example, high blood pressure, short-sightedness, sickle cell anaemiaAnaemia is when the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin. Red blood cells and haemoglobin (the molecule in red blood cells that makes them red) are... More, asthma, etc.

Once offspring start showing signs of diseases, like asthma, the doctor’s job is made easy if he knows the family’s disease history.

Sickle cell anaemia is another good example. For a child to be affected, both parents must pass the defective form of the gene, and if only one parent passes the sickle cell gene to the child, the child will have the sickle cell trait. A man and a woman with the defective gene are usually advised not to have children.