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Genetics and Related Studies is a degree category that consists of the following common degrees:
- Read more about Genetics
Genetics is concerned with how traits such as hair color, eye color, and risk for disease are passed or inherited from parents to their children, and how these inherited traits differ from person to person.
At the center of the study of genetics is the genetic code or ‘genome.’ This genetic information is made up of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and is stored in almost every cell in the body. Every human genome contains 20,000 genes. The human body contains between 75 and 100 trillion cells. And every human cell contains 46 chromosomes that provide the genetic instructions for a body to live, grow, and develop.
These numbers alone speak to the complex work of geneticists and to the fascinating subject matter tackled by students of genetics.