Understanding Equine Genetics
The purpose of this website is to help the members of Riata gain a better understanding of genetics and how they apply to horses. Our hope is that members will utilize these concepts in order to make gameplay as realistic as possible. Any questions may be directed to Jennifer.
You're bound to notice many things when walking down the aisle of a barn. Horses of all shapes, sizes, and colors will poke their heads out of their stalls in anticipation of a delicious snack or affectionate scratch. But have you ever stopped and wondered why they all look different? What makes an Arabian different from a Thoroughbred? What makes a chestnut, chestnut? All of these questions can be answered by the fascinating field of genetics.
Genetics is the study of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms.
So how does that apply to the horse world?
It's the reason an Arabian bred with another Arabian will produce an Arabian. (no joke, people!)
Unfortunately, it does get much more complicated than that, but we'll try to stick to the basics...
Basic Terminology
Allele - the unique form of a given gene.
Mutation - an event that changes the sequence of the DNA in a gene.
Genotype - the genetic makeup of a cell.
Phenotype - an observable trait; the result of the expression of genes as well as environmental factors.
Dominant/Recessive - the inheritance patterns of certain traits, describing how likely the phenotype is to pass on to offspring.
Homozygous - identical alleles of the gene are present on both of the paired chromosomes.
Homozygous-Dominant - two copies of the dominant trait are present, represented by capital letters. Ex: GG
Homozygous-Recessive - two copies of the recessive trait are present, represented by lower-case letters. Ex: gg
Heterozygous - two different alleles of the same gene are present, represented by one capital letter and one lower-case letter. Ex: Gg
Atom - The atom is the smallest unit that defines the chemical elements and their isotopes. Everything is made up of atoms.
Molecule - a group of two or more atoms combined together. Think of water (H2O).
DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid - a molecule that contains genetic instructions used in developing all living organisms.
Chromosome - a "package" for carrying DNA in the cells. Horses have 64 chromosomes. Humans only have 46. These are paired.
Gene - a segment of DNA. Genes are like sentences, where DNA are words. Most living organisms carry two copies of each gene - one from mom, one from dad.
Genetic Code - the set of rules which translates information in genes to traits.
Genome - the complete set of genes in a particular organism. The equine genome was first sequenced in 2007.