for example, let's say a mother only has genes for brown hair and a father only has genes for red hair. the child will inherit – receive – genes for red hair (from her father) and brown hair (from her mother). the brown hair gene is 'dominant' to the red hair gene. this means the child will have brown hair even though she has genes for both red and brown hair. this means only one dominant gene is needed for the child to receive that particular trait, while two recessive genes are needed for one.