Wizarding Genetics
Ever wondered how magical genetics worked? This is a guide that should help you understand. *This isn't mine and all the original research is linked in the bibliography
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
4
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1,185
Genetics Of Magical Ability
Chapter 3
Beyond Dominant and Recessive
Some traits follow the simple rules of Mendelian inheritance or dominant and recessive genes (what we were discussing last chapter)
Complex traits follow different patterns of inheritance that may involve multiples genes and other factors.
Incomplete or blended dominance : results in a phenotype that is a blend of a heterozygous pair. Ex. Red flower + Blue flower = Purple flower
If the dragons in Harry Potter have fire‐power alleles F
(strong fire) and F’ (no fire) that follow incomplete
dominance
| Genotype | Phenotype |
| FF | Strong fire |
| FF' | Moderate fire |
| F'F' | No fire |
Codominance : results in a phenotype that shows both traits of an allele pair. Ex. Red flower + White flower = Red and White spotted flower
If merpeople have tail colour alleles B (blue) and G
(green) that follow the codominance inheritance rule
| Genotype | Phenotype |
| BB | blue tail |
| GG | green tail |
| BG | blue and green tail |
– Multiple alleles : have more than 2 variations.
Ex., human blood type has 3 different allele variants,
A, B, and O.
| Genotypes | Phenotypes |
| AA, AO | A blood type |
| AB | AB blood type |
| BB, BO | B blood type |
| OO | O blood type |
– Regulatory genes :regulate the expression of other genes. • For example,a regulatory gene may ‘silence’ another Comples Genes in Harry Potter Hagrid's height Hagrid is 12.5 ft while his father is approx. 5 ft and his mother appox. 20 ft. Hagrid's height is the average between these two heights, (5+20)/2= 12.5, so it is an incomplete dominance Magical Ability In the wizarding world, people are born with or The descriptions divide into two different categories of Expression—has the ability or doesn’t have the ability Strength—has strong, average, or weak magical ability Gene 1: expression of magical ability Expressed (witches & wizards) Not expressed (Muggles do not have magical ability) Gene 2: strength of magical ability Strong Possible genotypes for the phenotypes of – Two Muggle parents can have a child with magical ability, like – The possible alleles for the silencing gene are: S (dominant) or s Expressed (witches & wizards) —ss Not expressed (Muggles) —SS, Ss Possible genotypes for the phenotypes of – There are three phenotypes described for the strength of – Given “strong + weak=average”, the magical strength gene with Strong ability —MMAverage ability—MM’ (incomplete dominance) Must be ss to have magical ability: – MMss = very powerful wizard – MM’ss = average wizard – M’M’ss = very weak wizard (or squib) If you have at least one S you are a Muggle – MMSs, MM’Ss, M’M’Ss = a Muggle who could have children with magical ability with a spouse with at least one s – MMSS, MM’SS, M’M’SS = a Muggle who would never have children with magical ability
gene from expressing its dominant trait. The Manx cat
has no tail because it has a regulatory gene that
silences the gene that expresses the tail.
without magical ability. Those with magical ability also
show very strong, normal or weak ability.
Name Phenotype Harry Potter Strong magical ability Hermione Granger Strong magical ability Ron Weasley Average magical ability Dumbledore Strong magical ability Petunia Dursley No magical ability Mr. Filch Weak magical ability
observable traits—1) expression and 2) strength of magical ability,
which may indicate two genes responsible for the ability.
Average
Weak (i.e., squibs)
expressed and not expressed magical ability
Hermione. Muggles must have a gene for magic that is not
expressed or silenced by another regulatory gene.
(recessive). The genotypes of the allele pair for expressed or
not expressed phenotypes are:
the strength of magical ability
magical ability: strong, average, or weak.
M (strong ability) and M’ (weak ability) alleles affected by
incomplete dominance can produce the genotypes
corresponding to the three different phenotypes:
Weak ability (i.e., squibs) —M’M’
