Difference Between Acquired and Inherited Traits

Introduction

During a person's lifespan, they acquire certain traits. They need to be handed on from one generation to the next. Hereditary traits are passed on from generation to generation, and these traits are inherited traits present in the person from birth.

The qualities that a person acquires throughout the course of their lifetime are known as acquired traits. They do not get handed down from one generation to the next. Contrarily, hereditary qualities have been a part of a person's makeup from birth and are carried on by future generations.

The physical demonstration of a DNA-encoded gene is hence known as a phenotype. A person's traits, including their hair color or blood type, make them unique. Phenotyping is influenced by both the interactions between genes and their environment. It's important to remember that our genes are designed to act as signal transmitters in our DNA, defining our distinct personalities. The phenotype may also refer to a group of characteristics, and the phrases "phenotype" and "trait" are also used synonymously.

Phenotypes are only observable characteristics, as the word implies. Phenotypes are often connected to and used to connect changes in DNA sequences between people with an attribute, such as height, hair color, or sickness. It is crucial to remember that environmental influences on phenotypes are at least as significant as genetic influences. Environmental factors nearly always play a part, including the foods eaten, the quantity of exercise completed, and the amount of tobacco inhaled.

Inherited Traits

These are traits that children inherit from their parents. Some examples of hereditary traits in people include hair, complexion, eye colour, body type, height, and propensity for certain illnesses.

An individual's genes determine their inherited characteristics. In the human body, there are between 25,000 and 35,000 genes per cell. The characteristics a person inherits from his parents are encoded in these genes.

With the help of his studies on the pea plant, Gregor Mendel provided an explanation of the idea of hereditary qualities. According to his illustration, the features that are evident in the phenotype are known as dominant traits, whilst the ones that are not visible are known as recessive traits.

Mendel used the following inheritance rules to describe how characteristics are passed down:

1. Law of Dominance: When two distinct character traits are present in a person, only one manifests in the F1 offspring and is referred to as the dominant trait, while the other is the recessive trait.
2. Law of Segregation: The second rule of inheritance is the law of segregation. This rule describes how a pair of alleles separate from one another during meiosis cell division (gamete creation) such that only one allele is present in each gamete.
3. Law of Independent Assortment: In accordance with this rule, the alleles of two additional genes are randomly sorted into gametes. The allele acquired for one gene has no effect on the allele acquired for another gene.

Examples of Inherited Traits

• Physical traits like dimples, curly hair, and others are generally thought to be inherited traits. These traits are passed on from one generation to the other generation. Moreover, the human being influences these acquired traits.
• Green/Red Colour Blindness may also occur as a result of inheritance. The probability of a youngster developing color blindness is high if an adult does.
• Additional traits like eye color, skin tone, and blood type are also passed down from parents to their children.
• In certain cases, height is also a characteristic that is inherited. Some study, however, contends that height should not be regarded as an inherited trait. This is due to the fact that the human body's more than 700 genes interact in a complicated manner to determine height. So, inferring that a single gene controls height is incorrect.

Acquired Traits

The characteristic or trait that an organism acquires as a consequence of external factors is known as an acquired trait. Since genes do not encode these features in the organism's DNA, this is its primary distinguishing property.

Lamarck's first theory was that acquired characteristics might be passed on from parents to their children, making the organism better suited to its surroundings. Later, however, since Lamarck had sufficient proof that acquired qualities are not carried from one generation to the next, Darwin withdrew this idea from his book, The Theory of Evolution.

For instance, a bodybuilder's child may not necessarily have very huge muscles. This is so because the bodybuilder built up his muscles over the course of his lifetime. n.

Examples of Acquired Traits:

• Learning to ride a bike is a skill that can be learned.
• Acquired qualities include things like skill development, reading, and other activities.
• Learning to play an instrument and training a dog (teaching him tricks)
• When a student studies, it is a trait that is acquired during his life
• Scars and hormonal changes throughout puberty
• Muscles that have grown as a result of bodybuilding and exercise.

Similarity in Acquired and Inherited Traits

• An organism may have two different sorts of phenotypes: acquired traits and hereditary traits.
• They all take place during the organism's lifespan.
• They may be seen as characters.

Difference between Acquired and Inherited Traits

Definition

In contrast to hereditary traits, which are genes encoded in DNA and passed from parent to child during reproduction, acquired traits are phenotypic/physical characteristics that are affected by environmental circumstances but are not passed down to the next generation.

Inheritance

In general, hereditary qualities are passed down from one generation to their children, but acquired features are only sometimes passed down to the next.

Encoded by DNA

Inherited traits are encoded by genes, but on the contrary, acquired traits are not encoded by genes.

Influence

Environmental factors have an impact on acquired characteristics, while genetic factors have an impact on inherited traits.

Evolution

Although hereditary characteristics participate in evolution, acquired characteristics do not.

Examples

Muscles are one example of an acquired attribute, while hair, skin, and other traits are examples of ones that are inherited.

Conclusion

An organism's traits are the observable traits that set it apart from other organisms. Traits are influenced by genes, the environment, and how these factors interact. The genetic component of a character is called the genotype. The genotype's outward expression is known as the phenotype. Qualities that a person acquires during their life are referred to as acquired characteristics. They are not passed on from generation to generation. Whereas genetic traits are present from birth and are passed down through the generations. Knowledge, opinions, abilities, and weight are acquired characteristics, while hair and eye color, bone and muscle structure, and nose shape are genetic attributes.