Page 121 - DK Children's Encyclopedia

Genes SEE ALSO

▸ ▸ Body cells p.41
▸ ▸ Evolution p.95
Genes are the instructions that make people the way they ▸ ▸ Human body
are. They include things like skin color, hair color, and p.130
height. Half our genes come from our mother and half ▸ ▸ Life cycle p.146

from our father. ▸ ▸ Mammals p.154
▸ ▸ The sciences
pp.218–219

Inheritance
Face shape, eye color, and
hair texture are passed
down from either the
mother’s or the father’s If you unraveled
genes. Skin color works all the DNA in a
differently—it depends on person it would reach
the amount of a chemical to the sun and back
called melanin in the skin. 400 times!

Mother Father
Her hair is
light brown
and straight
like her dad’s. His eyes are His hair is black Her hair is curly
brown like and curly like like her mom’s,
his mom’s. his mom’s. and light brown
Her face shape like her dad’s.
was passed
on from her
mother’s genes.

Her skin color
could be the
same as either
Child 1 Child 2 Child 3 parent or
anything in
between.
Clones What is DNA?
Most animals get a mix of Genes are made from long structures
different genes from their called DNA. Everyone has different DNA,
parents. Clones have except for identical twins, whose DNA
exactly the same genes as is the same.
another animal. Dolly the
sheep was the first cloned
mammal. Her genes were DNA looks like a
taken from a single cell of twisted ladder.
a female sheep.

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