Genetics Question

[The Hero]

so my girlfriend is Chinese and I am white what are the chances her Genetics will dominate   over my own ? if we have a child?

[snabbott]

Genetics doesn't really work that way. Your baby would have a 50/50 mix of your genes and hers. You can talk about dominance of particular genes but not of an entire person/race/whatever. Is there a particular characteristic you're wondering about?

[The Hero]

skin color eyes abd hair really I dont like my looks and I an hoping they look like her more then me
 

[snabbott]

Skin color tends to be somewhere in between the parents' (but not always). Brown eye color is dominant, but "dominant" in genetics doesn't mean what a lot of people think it does.

If she has brown eyes (just a guess, but it's common among Chinese people), it means at least one of the two copies of the gene is brown.

If only one copy is brown (and if you don't have brown eyes - again, just a guess), there's a 50% chance your child would have brown eyes.

If both copies are brown, there's ~100% chance. (It's not quite 100% - there's always the chance of a mutation or something. And "mutation" doesn't mean what a lot of people think it does, either. It just means that something could happen to change the DNA for that particular gene.)

Also, from what I've read, they think eye color is actually controlled by multiple genes so, again, it's not quite this simple.

Ulitmately, your child's appearance is out of your control. (And hopefully you wouldn't choose someone based on what your children might look like! )

[The Hero]

as a small note my eys are blue

[Rosella]

And, just a question, does she know you're trying to figure out what your kids will look like?

[B'rrr]

Does she even want kids? 

[Haids1987]

Is she pregnant?

[The Hero]

yes she knows no shes not but we are planning to very soon

[snabbott]

Good luck! Kids are a lot of work and a HUGE responsibility, but SO worth it!

[The Hero]

its not like I am new to it my ex had 2 kids before i met her so i have practice

[Fierce Deity]

If both copies are brown, there's ~100% chance. (It's not quite 100% - there's always the chance of a mutation or something. And "mutation" doesn't mean what a lot of people think it does, either. It just means that something could happen to change the DNA for that particular gene.)

Mutations are just great. My dad has brown eyes and my mom has blue eyes. I ended up with green eyes. 

If anybody follows Jon and Kate Plus Eight, you can see how Jon Gosselin just dominated all eight kids with his genes. 

[snabbott]

If both copies are brown, there's ~100% chance. (It's not quite 100% - there's always the chance of a mutation or something. And "mutation" doesn't mean what a lot of people think it does, either. It just means that something could happen to change the DNA for that particular gene.)

Mutations are just great. My dad has brown eyes and my mom has blue eyes. I ended up with green eyes. 

That wouldn't necessarily require a mutation. Apparently, the genetics of eye color is pretty complicated, and they don't even know how many genes are involved. There's an interesting (but somewhat technical) article here on Wikipedia.

There's also a fun eye color predictor here

My parents both have brown eyes; my sister has blue, and I have blue-green.

[Fierce Deity]

I'm just going by what I was originally told in my biology class. I was told that colors like Green, Hazel, and Gold were all mutations. I'm sure there has to be an explanation, but my eyes also change colors. For the most part, my eyes are green, but sometimes they come off as hazel (it's probably just the lighting in the room). My parents also have straight hair, and I got wavy hair (which I can't stand  ). Genetics really are a bag of mixed nuts. 

[waltzdancing]

It is the luck of the draw, my friend. Your baby might not even look like either one, just the extension of either family. I happen to look ALOT like my dad but my sister and one brother are a nice mix of both my parents. My youngest brother looks like my mom so you can never tell. Sorry that doesn't help ya much.

Fierce Deity, it is nice to know that I am not the only one who has wonky eyes. My eyes do just the same thing but it depends on what color shirt I wear that day. 

[snabbott]

They may be "mutations" relative to the "normal" (wild-type is the genetics term) version of the genes, but it probably wouldn't be a mutation of gene passed from your parent to you.

It sounds like blue eyes happen when the gene for brown pigment doesn't work. They think green is a completely different gene (but they haven't found it yet).

Genetics is relatively straightforward when there is only one gene that determines the trait and it has clear recessive/dominant behavior. A lot of traits are determined by multiple genes, though. Also, how strongly a gene is expressed (i.e. whether it makes a little or a lot of a protein) affects the outcome, too.

[waltzdancing]

Ack! Everything I was taught in school was a lie!

[snabbott]

Meh - not so much a lie as a gross overismplification.

[Fierce Deity]

Ack! Everything I was taught in school was a lie!

I remember when learning how to spell, my teacher told me to sound out the word and spell it out phonetically. Worst advice for the English language ever! Fortunately, I had a photographic memory as a child, so spelling came easy for me.

[snabbott]

Hukt on fonix wurkd fur me!