Recessive
adjective
Something that does not show physically, especially because of other powerful factors. ‘Recessive’ is used mostly to describe genetic traits that do not show up in a living organism except when there are two same versions of the gene (one from each parent).
Blue eye color is a recessive trait, as it only shows up when two genes for blue eyes are inherited.

Often appears as...
- recessive gene
- recessive trait
Usage tips
Academic
adjective
Showing withdrawal or submissiveness.
His personality became more recessive after the accident.

adjective
Something that does not show physically, especially because of other powerful factors. ‘Recessive’ is used mostly to describe genetic traits that do not show up in a living organism except when there are two same versions of the gene (one from each parent).
Blue eye color is a recessive trait, as it only shows up when two genes for blue eyes are inherited.

Often appears as...
- recessive gene
- recessive trait
Usage tips
Academic
adjective
Showing withdrawal or submissiveness.
His personality became more recessive after the accident.

Definition 1 of 2

Genetic Context
Used in genetics to explain traits not visible unless both parents contribute the gene.

Even though both parents have brown eyes, their child has blue eyes due to the recessive gene.
Recessive Misconception
A recessive trait is not necessarily less common; it just doesn't express unless paired with the same gene.

Blond hair is often thought of as rare, but it's actually a common recessive trait.
Mendelian Inheritance
The concept of 'recessive' is fundamental to Mendel's laws of inheritance in biology.

Mendel's pea plant experiments highlighted the idea of recessive and dominant traits.
Genetic Context
Used in genetics to explain traits not visible unless both parents contribute the gene.

Even though both parents have brown eyes, their child has blue eyes due to the recessive gene.
Recessive Misconception
A recessive trait is not necessarily less common; it just doesn't express unless paired with the same gene.

Blond hair is often thought of as rare, but it's actually a common recessive trait.
Mendelian Inheritance
The concept of 'recessive' is fundamental to Mendel's laws of inheritance in biology.

Mendel's pea plant experiments highlighted the idea of recessive and dominant traits.
Genetic Context
Used in genetics to explain traits not visible unless both parents contribute the gene.

Even though both parents have brown eyes, their child has blue eyes due to the recessive gene.
Recessive Misconception
A recessive trait is not necessarily less common; it just doesn't express unless paired with the same gene.

Blond hair is often thought of as rare, but it's actually a common recessive trait.
Mendelian Inheritance
The concept of 'recessive' is fundamental to Mendel's laws of inheritance in biology.

Mendel's pea plant experiments highlighted the idea of recessive and dominant traits.
Video examples
How Mendel's pea plants...
He called the yellow-colored trait the dominant one, because it was expressed in all the new seeds. Then he let the new yellow-seeded hybrid plants self-fertilize. And in this second generation, he got both yellow and green seeds, which meant the green trait had been hidden by the dominant yellow. He called this hidden trait the recessive trait.
Video examples
National Geographic...
bear that has the rare recessive gene that's pure white and I thought if I could just get pictures of this really rare hard to find a loose of white bear then I can bring attention to this cause of trying to keep oil tankers out of this area it's such a beautiful pristine habitat now proposing that story was one
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 11 PIPE...
leopard it's actually a recessive gene now I'm just going to quickly show you what I mean by that so I'm going to just use the white board outside and just show you a quick genetics lesson so it's some people turn into genetics but basically if we just draw a square a
Video examples
Can wildlife adapt to...
because nowadays, they're brown. The brown color variant is the genetically dominant form of plumage in this species, but historically, the recessive pale gray variant triumphed because of its selective advantage in helping these predators blend in.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 325 PIPE...
melanistic you are still the exact same species it just means that you are carrying the recessive gene for basically increasing your production of melanin or inhibiting it in some way that's how you have lice or white lions there leucistic lions
Video examples
Why do blood types...
For blood types, the A and B alleles are both dominant, while O is recessive. So A and A gives you type A blood, while B and B gives you type B. If you inherit one of each, the resulting codominance will produce both A and B antigens,
Video examples
What’s the difference...
In contrast, a theory tries to provide the most logical explanation about why things happen as they do. A theory might invoke dominant and recessive genes to explain how brown-haired parents ended up with a red-headed child,
Video examples
Cara E. Yar Khan: The...
I was diagnosed with a recessive genetic condition called hereditary inclusion body myopathy, or HIBM. It's a progressive muscle wasting disease that affects all of my muscles from head to toe. HIBM is very rare.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 178 PIPE...
cheetah now this recessive gene causes this blotching along the cheetah not the prominent spots that you are used to seeing but look at that isn't it phenomenal now this is a very rare gene
Video examples
The age of genetic...
let's use a microscope to zoom in on the inferior of those chromosomes, which is the Y chromosome. It's a third the size of the X. It's recessive and mutant. But hey, just a male.
Video examples
How Mendel's pea plants...
He called the yellow-colored trait the dominant one, because it was expressed in all the new seeds. Then he let the new yellow-seeded hybrid plants self-fertilize. And in this second generation, he got both yellow and green seeds, which meant the green trait had been hidden by the dominant yellow. He called this hidden trait the recessive trait.
Video examples
National Geographic...
bear that has the rare recessive gene that's pure white and I thought if I could just get pictures of this really rare hard to find a loose of white bear then I can bring attention to this cause of trying to keep oil tankers out of this area it's such a beautiful pristine habitat now proposing that story was one
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 11 PIPE...
leopard it's actually a recessive gene now I'm just going to quickly show you what I mean by that so I'm going to just use the white board outside and just show you a quick genetics lesson so it's some people turn into genetics but basically if we just draw a square a
Video examples
Can wildlife adapt to...
because nowadays, they're brown. The brown color variant is the genetically dominant form of plumage in this species, but historically, the recessive pale gray variant triumphed because of its selective advantage in helping these predators blend in.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 325 PIPE...
melanistic you are still the exact same species it just means that you are carrying the recessive gene for basically increasing your production of melanin or inhibiting it in some way that's how you have lice or white lions there leucistic lions
Video examples
Why do blood types...
For blood types, the A and B alleles are both dominant, while O is recessive. So A and A gives you type A blood, while B and B gives you type B. If you inherit one of each, the resulting codominance will produce both A and B antigens,
Video examples
What’s the difference...
In contrast, a theory tries to provide the most logical explanation about why things happen as they do. A theory might invoke dominant and recessive genes to explain how brown-haired parents ended up with a red-headed child,
Video examples
Cara E. Yar Khan: The...
I was diagnosed with a recessive genetic condition called hereditary inclusion body myopathy, or HIBM. It's a progressive muscle wasting disease that affects all of my muscles from head to toe. HIBM is very rare.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 178 PIPE...
cheetah now this recessive gene causes this blotching along the cheetah not the prominent spots that you are used to seeing but look at that isn't it phenomenal now this is a very rare gene
Video examples
The age of genetic...
let's use a microscope to zoom in on the inferior of those chromosomes, which is the Y chromosome. It's a third the size of the X. It's recessive and mutant. But hey, just a male.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Anne Wojcicki
American Scientist
My sister learned she was a carrier for a recessive disease, Bloom syndrome, late in one of her pregnancies. I remember the panicked call and the weeks of worry as she and her husband awaited his test results; if he was also a carrier, this meant their daughter had a one in four chance of being born with the disorder.

Quote examples
Sam Kean
American Writer
Whereas recessive traits require two bad copies of a gene to become noticeable, a dominant trait expresses itself no matter what the other copy does. A benign example of dominance: If you inherit one gene for sticky wet earwax and one gene for dry earwax, the sticky earwax gene wins out every time.

Quote examples
Bill Foster
American Politician
I often say that I inherited the family's recessive gene for adult-onset political activism.

Quote examples
Anne Wojcicki
American Scientist
My sister learned she was a carrier for a recessive disease, Bloom syndrome, late in one of her pregnancies. I remember the panicked call and the weeks of worry as she and her husband awaited his test results; if he was also a carrier, this meant their daughter had a one in four chance of being born with the disorder.

Quote examples
Sam Kean
American Writer
Whereas recessive traits require two bad copies of a gene to become noticeable, a dominant trait expresses itself no matter what the other copy does. A benign example of dominance: If you inherit one gene for sticky wet earwax and one gene for dry earwax, the sticky earwax gene wins out every time.

Quote examples
Bill Foster
American Politician
I often say that I inherited the family's recessive gene for adult-onset political activism.

Example 1 of 3
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