One particularly intelligent potterhead has wizarding genes all figured out.
Business Insider says,
Andrea Klenotiz, a University of Delaware biology student, has decoded the genetics of the wizarding gene in the Harry Potter universe. She sent a six-page paper of her work to J.K. Rowling.
The debate over wizarding genetics started with Rowling herself, who said the gene is dominant. Traditionally, and what most people were taught in high school, was that traits created by dominant genes always show up if a person has the gene.
This didn’t jive with the HP world.
Because of that, many people were confused by Rowling’s statement — if the gene is dominant, why are some people better at magic than others? Why are there squibs (non magic people born into wizarding lines) and mudbloods (wizards like Hermione born to non-magic parents)?
So, Klenotiz went to work. Her conclusion? “Magical ability could be explained by a single autosomal dominant gene if it is caused by an expansion of trinucleotide repeats with non-Mendelian ratios of inheritance.”
Whew! What a mouthful. If you’d like to know more about what that means, as well as Klenotiz’s conclusions, read the full article.
