	AllExperts > Genetics
	Search

About Darren Raffety
Expertise
I can answer questions relating to molecular genetics, specifically the roles that genes play in both health and disease in mammalian cells. I am also able to answer with relation to experimental organisms (e.g. S. pombe and S. cerevisiae) that are widely used in the biochemistry of genetics. I am knowledgable in the history of genetics ranging from the start (widely accepted to be Mendel, although his work was ignored for many years after his death). I can't answer questions directly relating to an individuals disorder only to give a general overview of widely accepted and experimentally proven concepts and theories. It is also impossible to determine the characteristics of an unborn child based on the phenotypes of the parents.

Experience
4 years educational experience at 2 UK Universities

Organizations
Instituate of Biomedical Sciences University of Sussex

Education/Credentials
BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences (University of Brighton) MSc Genetic Manipulation and Molecular Cell Biology (University of Sussex)

You are here: Experts > Science > Genetics > Genetics > skin tone

Genetics - skin tone

Expert: Darren Raffety - 11/3/2009

Question
i am having my 3rd baby with my husband. we don't know if its a girl or boy yet. but we keep thinking about the baby's skin tone.

my husband is mixed African and white. his father is very dark black skin, brown eyes, dark brown afro hair. his mother is white, green eyes, and medium brown hair. my husband has dark tan skin, brown eyes, dark brown curly hair and looks just like his father in his features.
i am very pale with freckle, wavy dark auburn hair (goes more red in the summer) and blue eyes. my mother is light tan skin, green eyes and straight brown/auburn hair. i look very much like my mother in features. i do not know what my father looks like.
we have 2 boys. one is medium tan skin, brown eyes, and light brown with red highlights in his hair. he looks just like i did as a young kid. our other son is very pale skin, blue grey eyes, light brown with red highlights in his curly hair. but looks more like my husband in features.

our question is if we have a girl what is the chance she will have dark skin? would the dark skin gene be on my husband's Y chromosome since he got it from his father?

thank you

Answer
Hey Alecia,

Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to predict any characteristic of your baby, apart from those that you can see with an ultrasound (e.g. gender) or if your have had amniocentesis (e.g. chromosome segregation). The other characteristic are a random mix of your and your partners DNA. There is also a chance that s/he will have a characteristic that isn't from you or you husband through chromosomal recombination during meiosis.

As far as I am aware, skin tone is not associated with the Y chromosome. The Y chromosome is actually really small compared with other chromosomes, especially the X chromosome. Just goes to show that men are made from only a few extra genes!

Kind Regards,

Darren

Add to this Answer Ask a Question