3/5/24

Your Genetic Relatives & Degrees of Separation Simplified

This is something many people struggle with. Granted, it can be confusing, but it is something very important to know when it comes to hereditary diseases, hereditary cancer, and sharing genetic information with your family. These are the relatives to start with when you have important family health history to share.

A graphic showing the first three degrees of separation among genetic relatives. 1st-degree are parents, siblings, and children. 2nd-degree are grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandchildren. 3rd-degree are great-grandparents, first cousins, grand- nieces & nephews, great-grandchildren
Keep in mind that the same disease-risk variant may be carried by numerous relatives separated by many degrees over multiple generations. That’s why knowing and sharing family health history is very important. 

A PDF of this graphic can be downloaded at genetionary.org

It is a companion piece to go along with a DNA graphic I created: