The Issue of Genetic Inheritance - Essay Example

Analysis of My Genetic Inheritance Looking at the genogram has made me think long and hard about the amount of genetic inheritance that I have from my parents, and how this might affect my life from birth to death. I have two brothers in my family, one who is older than me, and one who is younger than me, and yet I can already see that we each have inherited very different characters from the same two parents. This paper will examine the question of our inheritance in looking at each of us in turn, my younger brother, my older brother, and finally myself. I hope that this approach will highlight how much of our inheritance is shared, and how much variety creeps in to the mix. My younger brother Larry is very close to my Father. I am not sure why this is, but I think it might be because he is very cute, and he likes the same sports as my Dad. They do things together sometimes, such as watching particular sports programs on tv, and I can see that they both like this very much. My Dad never did that with me when I was his age, and I think maybe as Dad gets older he is not so busy with work, and he likes to spend time with Larry to relax. Dad was not close to his own father, and I am guessing that he wants to make up for that with his own sons, or at least one of them. I am really happy about this because it shows that a person can break free from the patterns that they experienced themselves as a child, and they can make a new start with the next generation. My older Brother Mark has left home and does not have much contact with the rest of us in the family. I used to be a bit afraid of him, because he always seemed to be a person that wants to be in control. Now I think maybe he had a difficult job, being the oldest of three boys, and he used to argue a lot with my father. He is the same age as one of the cousins on my father’s side, and I think that he learned some bad habits from him, such as drinking and smoking. I would not be surprised if he even takes drugs, because he was never that impressed with rules and authority. It seems that alcoholism is a common occurrence in my father’s side of the family. My Dad talks about his brothers sometimes, and the mischief they got involved in when they were teenagers. I can see that he has changed since then, and that is probably due to the influence of my mother. She does not drink alcohol, and although she is not totally against it, she would prefer if her family stays away from things that make them behave badly. My brother seems to have a very independent mind-set, and it may be that he has inherited this from my grandfather on my father’s side. The cousin that he used to spend time with has now broken contact with his parents and he lives in some community in Nevada. I am not sure what that is all about, but it may have something to do with alternative lifestyles and a kind of resistance to mainstream American values. My older brother does not follow the same kind of crazy ideas that my cousin does, but I think he is disillusioned with his job, and wishes he could move away from this state and start something new in a different place. He is certainly more rebellious than my younger brother and me, and I think in the future he might surprise everybody by doing something quite amazing. He is the brightest of us all, but he chooses not to study hard, and so it is possible that one day he will come back to our way of thinking and do something useful with his life. When it comes to talking about myself, it is very hard to be objective. I am the peacemaker in my family, and I often find myself defending my older brother’s actions when he has done something that my parents do not approve of. I feel loyalty towards him, even when I do not agree with what he is doing all of the time. I also sometimes have to persuade my mother to let my little brother do things that she thinks are too dangerous or not suitable. My strongest bond in the family is with my mother, and then through her with my mother’s father who died in 2003. I can still remember my Grandpa and he was the happiest, most relaxed person you could think of. I think maybe I have inherited some of his characteristics. My mother is a very kind person, and she always tells us that we should think of other people before we think of ourselves. I do not think there is much in my family that I would want to change. There are divorces and some cases of bad feeling on my father’s side of the family and I think these are a bad thing, but they do not affect me very much. I just avoid thinking about this, and deal with each person separately. I hope that my brother Mark will not follow the patterns of substance abuse and family conflict that he has seen in my cousin’s family. Sometimes I think that we do not talk to each other enough about the past, and one day it will be too late to find out about all our relatives, and see what patterns of behavior have been imprinted in the family line. My mother is very pleased that I am showing an interest in the family tree, and it has already been a positive experience to talk to her about what she thinks of her parents, and her children. I think that as we brothers get older, there will be an opportunity to gather more information from our parents, and perhaps this will help us to avoid the mistakes of others, and build a better future for our own children. Read More