Genetics in the wizarding world. Is wizarding a genetic or recessive trait?

[Peggy]

No: HPFGUIDX 100427

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bookworm857158367" 
<bookworm857158367 at y...> wrote:
> First of all, this is really a neat forum. It's nice to find other 
> adults who've read the books. I've been re-reading the Order of the 
> Phoenix after seeing the latest movie. While all of the references 
> to "pure-blood" and "half-blood" and "mudblood" wizards and Squibs 
> is distressingly reminscent of Nazi Germany, it does make me wonder 
> how the genes are passed down.
> 
<snip>
Hi bookworm (and everyone else!)

I haven't posted for a long, long time (too much work, too much 
worry).  But discussions of the genetics of magical families kind of 
come and go here, and last year (don't remember when and can't find 
the post), I posted a rather extended analysis of how magical talents 
might be inherited.

It was long and boring and I'm sure that most people quit reading 
before they got to my conclusions, but my idea was this:  That more 
than one gene is responsible for magical ability.  Most people don't 
realize how much genes interact with each other.  Some genes, in 
fact, interfere with the activity of others, some enhance the 
activity of others, and the genes that enhance/inhibit other genes 
are influenced by other genes.

So, I think that you can inherit a whole set of genes that interact 
with one another and influence whether you're a Muggle or a Squib or 
a Wizard.  This sort of thing would explain why Wizards pop up in 
Muggle families (their parents each carried only a few of the genes 
that are necessary for a Wizard, but when they had a baby, the child 
got a full set of Wizard genes, half from Mom and half from Dad), and 
it explains Squibs (they only got a few of the genes, or got the 
those genes that interfere with others), and Muggles (they lost out 
in the genetic lottery).

The short form is--I don't think it's either/or, dominant/recessive, 
or anything quite so simple.  Not that it isn't fun to speculate. ;)

Peg