Not all genetic traits abide strictly by the laws discovered by Mendel, instead some variations from Mendelian genetics have branched out into four categories. These four types of variation are incomplete dominance, codominance, polygenic inheritance, and sex linked traits/sex influenced. Incomplete dominance is a condition when during the heterozygous condition, the dominant allele does not completely overpower the recessive allele. As a result, will give a blending of the traits. For example, a white bunny and a black bunny produces a gray bunny. Codominance is a condition when during the heterozygous condition, the dominant allele does not completely overpower the recessive allele so both traits are seen at the same time. For instance, a white bunny and a black bunny produce a bunny with both white and black patches. Polygenic Inheritance is when many genes interact together to produce one trait that contains many phenotypes. For example, hair color is controlled by three sets of genes all working together to create various hair color and same the same concept goes for skin as well. Sex linked/sex influenced traits are controlled by a gene located only on the X chromosome. For example, colorblindness is a recessive trait that occur to more males than female because males contain one less X chromosome compared to that of females.

These variations of mendelian genetics are fundamental for everyday lives such as for breeding purposes, personalized medication research, along with enhancing genetic information for curing cancer or viral infections.

References:

www.greensburgsalem.org/cms/lib4/…/108/Variations_to_Mendelian_Genetics.ppt