Self Assessment Answer # 6 for Lesson 5

by Dr Jamie Love © 2002 - 2005
Genetics Course

You are 50% (half) identical to your brothers and sisters. That may not have been too obvious and you'd have to think about it in terms of statistics but maybe we can explain it here with what you already know.

You are half identical to your father and half identical to your mother. [Right?] So are your brothers and sisters, but the half they received from each parent is not the same half you received! And it isn't the "other half" either!

Remember, meiosis I makes sure that gametes are very different. The genetic material you received from your father's sperm is not the same genetic materials your brother or sister received. The same goes for the genetic materials inherited from mom's egg.

Indeed, the odds are that the sperm materials you inherited are only 50% identical to the sperm materials your brother or sister received. The same is true for the genetic materials from mom. That means you share with your brother or sister ¼ of dad's genes and ¼ of mom's genes. That's a total of ½ shared but the remaining ½ of your genetic material is not shared!

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Dr Jamie Love, the producer of these Genetics lessons, has written several self-study science courses specifically designed for home schoolers and other distance learners. These courses are "hypertextbooks" - delivered over the internet and read on your computer, just like web pages. To organize and distribute these hypertextbooks, Jamie created Merlin's Science Academy - a (non-accredited) "virtual school". Merlin's Science Academy sells self-paced, self-learning hypertextbooks that teach Alchemy (actually, Chemistry ), Astronomy and Genetics in a fun and unique way. Each course has computerized exams, unique features and a style best suited for teaching the subject. Principles of Alchemy (Chemistry) is for younger students (up to highschool), while Principles of Astronomy is for more advanced students (hobbyists & first-year university), and Principles of Genetics is most suitable for very advanced students (at university). However, every student is different and it would not be fair to generalize. So, visit Merlin's Science Academy where you can learn more about the courses, request free samples of each course (to download onto your computer) and enjoy the free online samples.

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