Types of Genetic Traits

Genetic traits follow different inheritance patterns depending on how many copies of a gene you have and how they work together. Understanding these patterns helps explain why some traits show up in certain family members and not others.

Dominant Traits

Sometimes a single copy of a gene is enough to produce a disease or trait. This is called a dominant genetic model. For example, someone with a single risk allele for Huntington's disease will develop the condition.

Recessive Traits

Some diseases or traits only appear when you have two copies of a gene. This is called a recessive genetic model. Sickle cell anemia is one example.

Additive Traits

Most traits don't follow a simple dominant or recessive pattern. Instead, the majority of traits result from multiple genes working together in an additive way.

Human height is a good example. For each gene that influences height, two copies of the "tall" allele add twice as much total height as one copy does. Because many genes influence height, most alleles and variants work this way.

Looking for help with your results?

SelfDecode gives you two AI options to explore your health data:

  • AI Hyperintelligence — your built-in AI health coach, available right in your account
  • MCP integration — link your SelfDecode data to ChatGPT or Claude for AI-powered insights using your own account

Want more from your SelfDecode plan?

The Ultimate Bundle includes all of our current premium reports in one package:

Upgrade from your dashboard or email support@selfdecode.com with any questions.

Did this answer your question? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.