Dedication to Mr. Sunder,

The baddest bee there ever was.

Bloody good beard.

darn right

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/adrgptcxa253

Bork! My name is Kimchi! I'm named after a Korean dish; it's my favorite food! Oh! Here come my two siblings, Rush and Wrestle.

Awoo! Don't speak to us, peasant. You don't look like our family. You're not even gray-- You're a diarrhea color! Are you even our real brother??

Fine! If I'm not welcome, then I'll leave!

That's right--Shoo, shoo!

Kimchi dashed away while sobbing uncontrollably as the day was ending, not looking where he was running...

Until all of a sudden, he ran into an elephant and promptly collapsed!

W--Oof!

Oh! Where are you in such a hurry to, young one?

Somewhere far, far away, where I can't see my brothers anymore!

Why would you part from your family?

I don't even know if they're my family! We look nothing alike.

Well, there are many ways to tell if you really came from your family or not. How about I tell you about genetics?

Anything to know the truth. Bork!

Okay! Well, here we go.

Mendel

Genetics were first discovered by a man named Mendel! He wondered why the flowers of pea plants were different colors, so he looked into it. Every living thing has genes, and genes can be very different! Different genes are called alleles!

Genetics

Your genetics come from your mother and your father! They control what you look like. They're the reason you look like them! Each parent has two alleles, or parts, and so do you!

But if both of my parents have two alleles, why don't I have four?

Simple!

Mendel's Law of Segregation

You have two because when you were being made, your parents' alleles split up and then were randomly chosen.

Oh! So it's like mixing a fruit salad and then picking out random parts!

Exactly, Kimchi!

The alleles mix together like a fruit salad, and then two are randomly chosen to be used. These are the alleles that would decide the characteristics of the parents' baby!

Characteristics, such as fur color, are shown through genes. The color is determined by the alleles. If two possibilities exist, then the dominant trait is the one that is expressed.

Dominant alleles? What are those?

I'm glad you asked! The dominant allele is the allele that overpowers the other one.

Think of an orange cat and a black cat having a baby.

Suck it up, buttercup. If the black cat has the dominant allele, then it is safe to assume that their babies would be black!

Eww! I hate cats!

Oh! How cool! The the dominant allele is like the winner in a game of tug-of-war!

Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment

Next up is what alleles do! Alleles control you look like! Alleles control eye color, hair color, and even height! Each allele controls one thing about you.

So then I have one allele for each of my characteristics! So, am I totally made up of

dominant alleles since that's what you see?

Not entirely, Kimchi. You can have non-dominant, or recessive, alleles. I can tell by looking at you, that you have some recessive alleles like your yellow fur! Yellow fur comes from recessive alleles.

But isn't gray fur dominant in wolves? My whole family is gray except for me. To be honest, it some times makes me feel like an outcast: I'm judged.

Kimchi, you're genetics are nothing to be afraid of. Everyone looks different in her or her own way. It sounds like to me that you're being bullied. Just know that there is something that makes everyone different, and those differences are what make you special.

You see, no one's genetics are the exact same. You are one in a million! And with your yellow fur it makes you even more special in your family!

If my genetics make me so special, then how special am I?

Very special!

Your exact genetics, or DNA, could never be replicated normally. You are truly one of a kind. And your light colored fur makes you all the more special. You see, dogs made up of about 19,000 genes, and each gene controls one part of who you are. Each gene carried with it a set of directs that make you, well, you!

Dog? What are you--

With the random selection of traits and the infinite number of combinations, you're lucky to be who you are! No two outcomes are the same. It's like rolling 1,000 dice: the outcome is almost never the same! The more genes you have, the lower the possibility of copying you is! The probability of making a clone of you is oh-so small!

Law of Independent Assortment (+ Rules of Probability)

That's really amazing! But back to what you said earlier...

DOG? I'M A WOLF! I HAVE WOLF SIBLINGS, WOLF PARENTS-- I'M A WOLF!

Kimchi... you're a dog... who was taken in by a pack of wolves.

So... I'm not a wolf? Is that why I look different? Why they bully me?

Kimchi, faced with this sudden realization, began to cry in the arms of the elephant. He understood the differences of between his family and himself.

Kimchi, why are you crying?

Because I'm different! I am not like my brothers or parents! You wouldn't understand the pain of being judged your whole life and then everything turning out to be true!

Kimchi! Just because you're different doesn't mean you're not loved! Your family adopted you when they could have adopted anyone! They chose you! They love you!

If that's true, then why am I judged? Why do my brothers bully me?

Because that's how siblings are! Sibling rivalries are very common. I had to deal with my sisters teasing me all the time. And to be honest, you're not all that different from wolves!

Even if they are not your direct family, you're still connected to them. You see, dogs are descendants of wolves. You're simply an evolved form. Allow me to show you what I mean.

Family Pedigrees

This is a pedigree! It shows a family's genetic history! Allow me to break it down. Every circle represents a girl, and every square stands for a boy in the family.

For this one it's focusing on fur color, gray fur to be exact! Any shaded shape means that this individual has gray fur!

Okay, I get it. It shows how certain traits are passed down from parent to child. But does this relate to me being a dog?

Because, Kimchi, it shows that even those who don't have the exact same traits are still part of the family! You're still important!

I think I get now. Even if I'm not exactly like the others, it doesn't change the meaning of family. I need to accept my own differences before anyone else can accept me for who I am.

Exactly Kimchi! Even if you don't have the same traits as your family, you're still loved by them!

Right! How you look doesn't define you! What matters is that family is family, no matter the genetic difference!

But Mr. Elephant, I have more questions now.

What's that Kimchi?

What about other types of genetics? I've seem some animals that are two colors, or even some colors mixing together to make a new one. How does that work?

Yes! Allow me to explain!

Incomplete Dominance

Next subject: incomplete dominance! It's the expression of only one trait. How about I give you an example? What is your favorite type of flower? I now have glasses!

I like snapdragon flowers! My mom often picks the pink ones and decorates our den with it!

Did you know that you need to breed a white snapdragon flower with a red snapdragon flower in order to produce a pink snapdragon? It's like mixing two paint colors to produce one new paint color! It's an example of incomplete dominance, where genes of two different characteristics come together to create one new characteristic.

Hmmm... I don't really get what you're saying. I'm more of a visual learner.

Well, that's okay! Everyone learns in different ways. How about I send you on a small quest to find me two snapdragon flowers? Bring me one red snapdragon flower and a white one.

What if I get lost? I don't know my way around this place.

I'll send a little friend with you who knows his way around. His name is Clyde!

Clyde? Where are we going? I'm scared.

Don't worry! We'll be back in the forest before you know it!

Do you see snapdragon flowers anywhere?

Yeah! They're right here! I'm supposed to find one white and one red one, right?

Yup! Let's pick out the ones in the best condition.

These look pretty nice. I'll store them in my hat! Let's head back!

As the sun started to set, Clyde and Kimchi began to get lost, losing themselves in the great depths of the forest...

Umm Clyde, do you hear something?

No. I think you're just being paranoid. Don't be such a scaredy-dog!

I-I don't think we are safe right now.

Don't panic. We're doing just fine. I'll find the way back-- just you wait!

C-C-C-CLYDE! ABOVE YOU!

Why are you such a wu--

IT'S A DROP BEAR! My momma always warned me and my siblings to stay far away from them! They lurk in the trees and wait to drop on their prey!

This little bird will make a delicious breakfast in the morning!

Please, not Clyde! Don't take Clyde away!

H-huh?

Say your final goodbyes, for I will never--wait. What's that smell?

My papa gave it to me for my second birthday. I didn't know!

Is that the smell of leather? A LEATHER hat?! How dare you wear the parts of my kind on your ignorant head?!

I'll only give it to you in r-r-return for Clyde!

I demand that hat back! Hand it over at once, for it is property of the bears!

R-really? I-I mean thank you! Thank you so much!

The audacity! I could easily rip you to shreds, but I respect your courage, young one. It's a deal.

We're safe now, Clyde.

Upon possession of the leather hat, the drop bear made its way back to its natural habitat.

That was a close one! I'll have to store the flowers in my mouth now.

Kimchi, I want to tell you something. I'm sorry for doubting you earlier. I was just so panicked about being lost, and I didn't want to show it because I didn't want you to panic, and I just--

Don't worry about it, Clyde! We have our flowers and that's all we need! No need to stay on problems in the past when we can move on maturely! Let's go back!

Ah I see you have brought the snapdragons back!

Yes! Now you can finally teach me about.... uh.. incompetent dominions?

No, no!!!! Incomplete dominance!

When a red snapdragon flower breeds with a white snapdragon flower, they produce pink snapdragon flowers!

The ones my momma uses!

Yup! I'll show you how the breeding works!

Do you recall the previous lessons with the P, F1, F2, and so on and so forth? Well, we're going to use those again! As a reminder, the P is for the generation of the parents (The original white and red flowers). The F1 is the offspring of the P generation, and the F2 is the offspring of the F1 generation!

Notice how even though we are breeding one flower with another, we have two letters. Each flower has two alleles: one dominant and one recessive. The capital R's are the dominant alleles, and the lowercase r's are the recessive alleles. The ones on the far up and far left side are the parents (P generation), and the inner ones are the offspring. In this case, the red allele is the dominant one, and the white allele is the recessive one.

Here is the Punnet Square for the P generation's offspring (the F1).

This is the F1 generation's offspring: the F2. This is the breeding of a pink flower with another pink flower. A pink flower is a mix of a dominant allele of red and a recessive allele of white: Rr. This changes up the offspring.

You get the products by multiplying the alleles of the parents. In this case, R x R= RR (Red flower); R x r= Rr (Pink flower); r x r=rr (White flower). This is how Punnet squares work.

Here is the Punnet Square for the P generation's offspring (the F2).

Wow! I can't wait to tell my mom all about this! Pink snapdragons are pretty special!

Remember when you learned that when there's a dominant allele and a recessive allele, the dominant allele takes over? (Normally, a R (red) x r(white) = Rr (red)). Well, sometimes incomplete dominance happens, where neither of the alleles are completely dominant--hence the name incomplete dominance! In our case, instead of the red completely taking over, the red and white combine to make pink! That's what happened here with the snapdragons!

Codominance

Now that you know about incomplete dominance, I can now teach you about codominance!

Oh! oh! Since the prefix co means joint or shared, does it mean the alleles are shared?

Well, you are pretty close. In codominance, both the alleles are shown!

But weren't both alleles showing in the

incomplete dominance example?

Well... not exactly. In the incomplete dominance example, the dominant (red) and recessive (white) traits "mixed" to form pink. In codominance, however, both the dominant and recessive traits both show INDIVIDUALLY. Get it now? How about another flower example so that you can compare the effects?

This flower is an example of codominance. Notice how we can see both the traits of the dominant and recessive alleles: red and white.

Oh! I think I get it now! Both original colors are expressed here, while in incomplete dominance, only one is shown!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj5o5zo8pTnAhVjU98KHQ2yCesQMwiHASgWMBY&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ck12.org%2Fbiology%2Fnon-mendelian-inheritance%2Flesson%2FNon-Mendelian-Inheritance-

That's right, Kimchi! Now that you understand this concept, how about we move on to a new lesson?

Give us a hint of what the next lesson is about!

Well... do you know what the word polygenic means?

Let me think... if I break the word into two, it makes poly and genic. Poly means many, I think. I'm not sure what genic means, but it sounds a lot like gene, and we have been talking about genetics, so I'm going to guess polygenic means many genes?

You're right on the dot, kid. The next lesson is polygenic inheritance, which is multiple genes affecting one characteristic.

Don't worry if you don't get it right off the bat with the definition! I'll give you another example for this lesson!

Whaaa?

Polygenic Inheritance

I'll even let you choose the next example!

Oh oh! Can we do friendly giants? I love them! They give me seeds and bread sometimes!

I believe the correct term is human, but sure! I'll send you off to find me three humans-- a tall one, short one, and a medium-height one.

Don't you mean a hooman? I agree! Let's do a hooman! They give me nice pats whenever I see them!

Let's go! Where are we going to land?

I know just the place to find some humans! Something that humans do is go to some sort of boring party almost every single day! It's weird, but it's just one of the many odd things humans do.

None of them! Come this way! The party place is right in the center of this village!

Which one of these giant houses do we go to?

I think this is the place! The strange place where humans gather up almost daily!

Oh! I know this place! It's what hoomans call "school," whatever that means! Let's go in!

Hi guys!

I know the answer!

Pick me! Pick me!

Hmm...

Hi Ms. Villanueva! I'm Clyde! We have a favor to ask of you. Would you be willing to lend us three of your students? One tall, one short, and one medium-height?

Oh? What's this? A dog and a bird? In a classroom? How silly! Hello! I'm Ms. Villanueva! What business do you two have in here?

Okay!

Oh? That's quite the request! Let me bring in a substitute teacher while I speak with you two adorable creatures. How about you guys wait in the classroom across from here?

Did you call for me, Villanueva?

Yes, Parish. Will you take over this class for a couple of minutes while I go deal with a situation?

Say no more. I will teach this class so fabulously you will be blinded by your students' brightness when you walk back inside.

Well... please try not to overdo it like last time, Parish. You do have a tendency to become too... passionate. Yeah, let's call it passionate. I'll take my leave now.