Saturday Genetics Quiz #45: Creating a Family Pedigree
Earlier this week, I talked about the Bradfield family whose members experienced a higher than average rate of stomach cancer. For them, being able to see the inheritance of cancer across generations as charted in a family pedigree spoke volumes. There’s no better way to keep a record of your family’s health history than by drawing a family pedigree. So, this week’s genetics quiz question is:
What do the various symbols–circles, squares, hash marks–on a family pedigree mean?
Answer:
I’m going to borrow this from the National Society of Genetic Counselors. (Click for a larger image.)
The NSGC also has information on how to collect a family history.
Technorati Tags: family history, family tree, pedigree, genetics, genes, dna, disease, health
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POSTED IN: Genealogy and DNA, Genetics Quizzes
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3 opinions for Saturday Genetics Quiz #45: Creating a Family Pedigree
Marie Godfrey
Jun 24, 2006 at 10:16 am
Great choice of diagrams! There are many tools out there for family health history diagrams, including one from the Genetic Alliance and another from the Utah Department of Health.
For those intimidated by the number of symbols available, the NIH site offers a relatively simple family health history module where the results store on your own computer. Although you lose the availability of predictions and comparisons to genetic databases, you keep the information private.
Marie Godfrey, PhD
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Jun 24, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Marie: Thanks! When I started poking around, I saw lots of software available too. Very cool. Brings back fond memories of a summer spent coding family data on ovarian and breast cancer. :)
A Blog Around The Clock
Jun 24, 2006 at 9:16 pm
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