Why can people pass on traits that don't show up in them?

Answer 1

some traits are more common and getpast on easier

There are dominant and recessive traits-

Each person has 2 copies of a gene that codes for a certain trait-this is called the genotype (one from mom and one from dad)

Whichever trait is Dominant will be expressed- or passed on to you-

for instance darker pigments are usually dominant over lighter pigments so if a person has genes for blue and brown eyes- they will most probably have brown

fair skin or dark skin- probably dark

red hair or black hair- black

Answer 2

You have two copies of every gene - one from your mother and one from your father. The different variations of a specific gene are called alleles. Some alleles are dominant and override recessive alleles, so you have the phenotype (expressed trait) of the dominant allele although you have a copy of the recessive allele.

This is also possible if one of your alleles is a faulty copy and does not code for a functional protein. This is the case with cystic fibrosis - if you have one functional copy and one faulty copy of the CFTR gene, you are a carrier for cystic fibrosis but typically have no signs or symptoms yourself.

Answer 3

Because the genes are recessive. if there is no dominant gene to tell what's going to happen in that genetic code area, the recessive genes will take place.