How Migration and Soft Power Made Indo-European Languages Dominant
That is the leading explanation today for how the majority of Europeans came to speak the languages they do. And not just Europeans. At the same time that those intrepid steppe-dwellers set off west, others speaking related dialects headed east, planting their way of speaking in Asia. Both eastern and western dialect clusters share the label 'Indo-European' because, by the time linguists noticed the family resemblance in the 18th century, they were spoken from Europe to the Indian sub-continent.
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Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
My Kingdom - For A Hunk Of Old Soviet Cement?
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Understanding Non-Mendelian Genetics (Patterns of Inheritance)
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These are called polygenic traits and don't follow Mendelian inheritance patterns. Examples of polygenic health conditions include: hypertension diabetes certain cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer Mitochondrial inheritance Your mitochondria are the energy factories of your cells and also contain their own DNA, called mtDNA. While there are some exceptions, mtDNA is usually inherited from your mother. You get your mtDNA from your mother because the mitochondria present in sperm typically degrade after fertilization. This leaves behind just the mitochondria in the egg. Examples of Mitochondrial health conditions include Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. Epigenetic inheritance Epigenetics refers to how genes are expressed and regulated by factors outside of the DNA sequence. This includes things like DNA methylation, in which a chemical called a methyl group is added to a gene, turning it 'on' or 'off'. 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Examples of conditions associated with genetic imprinting include Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Silver-Russell syndrome, and Transient Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus. Gene conversion Gene conversion can happen during meiosis, the type of cell division that helps make sperm and eggs. After meiosis, each sperm and egg contains one set of chromosomes and therefore one set of alleles to be passed down to offspring. During meiosis, genetic information from one copy of an allele (the donor) may be transferred to the corresponding allele (the recipient). This results in a genetic change that effectively converts the recipient allele to the donor allele. Genetic conditions influenced by gene conversions include hemophilia A, sickle cell disease, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. What are examples of health conditions that follow non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance? Most health conditions we're familiar with don't follow Mendelian inheritance patterns. 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For example, if you have a certain genetic disease or you know that one runs in your family, you may have concerns about future children inheriting it. In this situation, working with a medical professional, such as a genetic counselor, who understands a disease's inheritance patterns can help you get an understanding of the risk of future children having the disease. Additionally, understanding genetic changes and inheritance can affect future therapies. This information can be important for developing gene therapies for a variety of genetic diseases. Takeaway Mendelian genetics focuses on the principles that there are dominant and recessive alleles and that we randomly inherit one copy of an allele from each parent. Some health conditions follow basic Mendelian inheritance patterns. Examples include cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. Non-Mendelian genetics don't follow the principles outlined by Mendel. 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