Two main tools employed in pedigree analysis

1. Principle of probability and chances of differences in realised ratio due to smallness of the progeny.

2. Elimination of alternatives.

Significance of pedigree analysis

1. It is useful for the genetic counsellors to advise intending couple about the possibility of having children with genetic defects.

2. It indicates that Mendelian principles are applicable to human genetics with some modification.

3. It enables the study of pedigree for the transmission of character and finding the absence or presence of that trait in homozygous or heterozygous state.

Symbols used in human pedigree analysis to study the inheritance of a character