Gene inheritance

Our genes tell us a number of stories:

• How we, as individuals, result from a unique combination of genes in a single cell produced by the fusion of egg and sperm.
• How our genes - and characteristics - have been passed down to us through the generations.
• How we are related to other members of our own species, and to all the other species of living things that make up the natural world.
• Explain our past and our present.
• Allow us to predict our futures; as the role of genes in the processes of ageing, and health and disease becomes ever clearer.

An improved understanding of genetics will raise new questions, as well as new hopes and fears. Genetics is not destiny. With knowledge comes power - and with power comes choice.