According to the information given on the "Tour of the Basics" for heredity and traits, much of our appearance and talents come from our parents. Heredity are traits from our parents given to children. The passing of these traits is the basis of heredity. Traits are distinguished characteristics or qualities. Our traits are defined from genes that convert instructions. Everybody has thousands of genes which are made of DNA and abide in our chromosomes. The environment we are born and live in shapes our traits as well. For example, when hair is a certain color such as black, the color can be changed to a dark brown due to the exposure of sunlight.
Each human receives two sets of 23 chromosomes from a mom and dad. That is a total of 46 chromosomes. As parents develop a child, each provides a complete set(23). In other words, this is how parents pass genes to their child. For this reason, we all have different appearances and characteristics that look some what like our parents. This process is taken place when the father's sperm cell joins the mother's egg cell. As the egg and sperm cell joins, they create a single cell named zygote. As the cell divides, the result will be the creation of a child. Since these combinations of chromosomes are randomly given to a child, every child inherits a special set from their mother and father.
A trait is a notable feature of quality in a person. We all have a combination of traits that makes us an extraordinary individual. They are passed from generation to generation. They are given to us and passed to our future children. Traits such as hair color, eye color, and height are physical traits. Physical traits are characteristics of ones physical makeup. Behavioral traits are characteristics of the way one acts. For example, a sheepdog's herding instinct. Lastly, predisposition to a medical condition. If a parent has a certain type of disease, there is an increased risk that it will be inherited to their child. Our genes play a role in defining our traits, however non-genetic(environmental) effects in our lives are just as essential to shaping our traits. It's even possible that the environment that you live in will change a trait.
