Mosaic (genetics)

Okay kiddo, let's talk about mosaics in genetics.

So you know how we all have different parts of our body, like our skin and our hair and our eyes? Well, imagine if some of those parts had different colors or patterns. That's kind of like what happens with mosaics in genetics.

Basically, every cell in our bodies has the same genetic information in it. But sometimes, when a new baby is growing inside its mommy's tummy, something happens and not all the cells get the same genetic information. Some cells might get a different color or pattern or trait than others.

And then, as the baby grows up, those different cells can show up in different parts of the body. Like, maybe the baby has a spot on their skin that's a different color than the rest of their skin because some of the skin cells got different genetic information than the others. Or maybe the baby has two different colored eyes because one eye got different genetic information than the other eye.

It's kind of like if you were coloring a picture, but then you accidentally colored one part a different color than the rest. That's what happens with mosaics in genetics - some parts of the body have different genetic information than others, so they look a little different.