Ereditarie

Ereditarie is the Italian term for hereditary, referring to traits or conditions that are transmitted from parents to offspring through genetic material. In biology, heredity describes the transmission of genetic information via DNA contained in chromosomes, shaping development, physiology, and disease susceptibility.

Hereditary traits follow patterns of inheritance. Some are Mendelian, arising from single genes with simple dominance relationships (autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive, and X-linked inheritance). Others are polygenic or involve mitochondrial DNA, where multiple genes contribute to a trait or condition, or where inheritance follows non-Mendelian patterns. A trait can be inherited without being strictly determinative, due to penetrance and variable expressivity, and environmental factors may modify its expression.

Hereditary diseases are genetic disorders that can be passed through families. Medical genetics uses family history, pedigrees, and genetic testing to estimate risk, guide surveillance, and inform reproductive decisions. Not all hereditary conditions are manifest at birth; some appear later in life or with varying severity.

Etymology: ereditarie derives from the Latin hereditarius, related to heres (heir). In Italian, derived terms include ereditarietà (heredity) and ereditario (hereditary).

In scientific literature, the term hereditary is sometimes distinguished from congenital (present at birth) and from non-genetic inherited effects such as imprinting or epigenetic inheritance, which involve gene expression changes rather than the DNA sequence alone.