the.com/recessive
the gene that only wins when it has no competition.
means a trait version that gets masked by a dominant one and only shows up when you inherit two matching copies.
from from mendel's 19th-century pea experiments, where he called traits that vanished in the first generation but reappeared in the second recessive, from latin recedere, to retreat.
needs two copiesone from each parent, no exceptions
can hide for generationscarriers show nothing, pass it silently
not weakerjust outvoted when a dominant copy is present
for instance
blue eyes — resurfaces in families that look all-brown for generations
cystic fibrosis — needs two faulty cftr copies, affects roughly 1 in 2500 births
albinism — requires both parents to carry the same silent allele
red hair mc1r — masked so well two brunette parents can still produce it