Analogies for Enhancing Understanding of Allele Dominance

Explanations for dominance of certain alleles in genetic disease can be difficult for students to understand. Conceptual analogies using every day objects and observations can be helpful to bring these abstract ideas into a more concrete realm of understanding. Specifically, analogies for illustrating dominance via poison product (Osteogenesis imperfecta), haploinsufficiency (DiGeorge syndrome), increased enzyme activity (hereditary gout), acquired function (sickle cell disease) and inappropriate expression (antennapedia) will be presented using every day objects or freely available film clips.