The Mackenzie Library Blog found a fun little thing in Nature which I think is perfect for a Friday.

Harry Potter and the recessive allele p776
Jeffrey M. Craig, Renee Dow and MaryAnne Aitken
doi: 10.1038/436776a

"We are bombarded with news of genetic discoveries on an almost daily basis, but people without a formal knowledge of heredity and genetics can have difficulty in deciphering and applying this information. Education and debate across all ages would undoubtedly help, but how can we teach children these concepts? . . . Most children are familiar with J. K. Rowling's stories about the young wizard Harry Potter . . . [in these stories] wizarding ability is inherited in a mendelian fashion, with the wizard allele (W) being recessive to the muggle allele (M). According to this hypothesis, all wizards and witches therefore have two copies of the wizard allele (WW). Harry's friends Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom and his arch-enemy Draco Malfoy are 'pure-blood' wizards: WW with WW ancestors for generations back. Harry's friend Hermione is a powerful muggle-born witch (WW with WM parents)."

Just a little something fun on a Thursday morning.