Genetics is the study of heredity, or how biological traits are passed from parents to children through genes. Genes are sections of DNA found on chromosomes. Humans have two sets of 23 chromosomes, one set inherited from each parent. Traits are expressed through dominant or recessive alleles, and a person's genotype is their combination of alleles, which determines their observable phenotype. Mendelian inheritance describes how genetic traits are determined based on the genes inherited from each parent.