Besides inheriting eye color, height, and many other phenotypes from your parents, you can also inherit a disease called hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive (both genes passed on from the parents are recessive) inherited disorder that develops when the body absorbs too much iron over many years. The excess iron then builds up in organs and their tissues, eventually destroying the organs. The excess iron is mainly stored in the pancreas, liver, and skin. The disease is not contagious from the source because it is an inherited disease.

Hereditary hemochromatosis is caused by a mutation on chromosome six in the HFE (protein) gene. Everyone has two HFE genes, but a person with hereditary hemochromatosis has inherited two mutated HFE genes (one from each parent) (Hemochromatosis, 2005). Each parent must have the C282Y type of mutation. The resulting child inherits both genes and usually develops hemochromatosis (very high...