1. What is Heredity?

2. Heredity is the passing of genetic material from parents to offspring
Gregor Mendel – an Austrian monk who began to study the inheritance traits of pea plants in the monestary’s garden
He studied seven characteristics of pea plants
A characteristic is a feature that has different forms
A trait is the different form of the characteristic
Mendel studied true – breeding plants – plants that will always produce offspring with a certain trait if allowed to self pollinate

3. Mendel’s Findings

4. All the pea pods produced from the first generation were green
Mendel called the green pea pod trait the dominant trait
Mendel called the yellow pea pod trait the recessive trait
Mendel allowed this first generation of plants to self – pollinate
The second generation of pea pods produced ¾ green peas pods and ¼ yellow
Mendel showed that plants could still pass on the yellow trait even when it didn’t show up

5. How Are Traits Inherited?

6. Genes are segments of DNA found in chromosomes that give instructions for producing a certain characteristic
All offspring have two versions of the same gene
The different versions are called alleles
These genes are represented by letter symbols
The capital letter means the allele is the dominant allele
The lower case letter means the allele is the recessive allele
An organism with two dominant or recessive alleles is homozygous for that trait
An organism with one dominant and one recessive alleles is heterozygous for that trait

7. Genes Influence Traits

8. The combination of alleles that you inherited from your parents is your genotype
Your observable traits make up your phenotype
Some traits are dominant over others
The dominant allele contributes to the phenotype if one or two copies are present in the genotype
The recessive allele contributes to the phenotype only when two copies of it are present
If one chromosome in the pair has a dominant allele and the other contains a recessive allele, the phenotype is determined by the dominant allele
This shows complete dominance – one trait is completely dominant over another

9. Many Genes/One Trait Many Traits/One Gene

10. Some characteristics such as eye color are the result of several genes acting together
Different combinations of alleles can result in different shades of eye color
Many traits do not have simple patterns of inheritance
Sometimes one gene influences more than one trait
A single gene causes the tiger to have white fur
The same gene influences the blue eye color
Many genetic disorders are linked to a single gene but affect many traits

11. Environment Influences Traits

12. Environment can influence an organism’s phenotype
The gene for fur color in the arctic fox is affected by daylight
In winter, the daylight is short and fur turns white
In summer daylight is longer, fur color turns brown
Environment influences our growth
You may carry the gene for tallness, but without a healthy diet, you may not reach your full height
Traits that are learned are not inherited – bike riding

13. Bending the Rules

14. Some human traits follow the pattern for complete dominance others do not
In incomplete dominance, each allele in a heterozygous individual influences the phenotype
The result is a blend of the phenotypes of the parents
Both alleles of the gene have some influence
Hair texture is an example of incomplete dominance -one straight hair allele and one curly hair allele will produce wavy hair

15. Codominance

16. A trait that shows codominance has both of the alleles in a heterozygous individual contribute to the phenotype
Heterozygous individuals have both of the traits associated with the their two alleles
An example in humans is blood type
There are three alleles for blood type: A, B, and O
The A and B alleles are codominant
The blood type is AB

17. Punnett Squares

18. One tool for understanding the patterns of heredity is a diagram called a Punnett square
A Punnett square is a graphic used to predict possible genotypes of offspring
Each parent has two alleles for a particular gene
An offspring receives one allele from each parent for a particular trait
A Punnett square shows all the possible allele combinations in the offspring

20. A Punnett square does not tell you what the exact results of a certain cross will be
It only helps you find the probability that a certain genotype will occur
Probability is the mathematical chance of a specific outcome in relation to the total number of possible outcomes
Probability can be expressed as a ratio
a ratio is written as 1:4 or ¼ and is read as “one to four”
Another way of expressing probability is percentage
A percentage states a certain outcome out of 100

21. Pedigree Charts

22. A pedigree is another tool used to study patterns of inheritance
It traces the occurrence of a trait through generations of a family
Pedigrees are useful in tracing a class of inherited disorders known as sex – linked disorders
Examples of sex – linked disorders are hemophilia and colorblindness

23. Sex – Linked Disorders

24. Sex – linked disorders are associated with an allele on a sex chromosome
Many sex – linked disorders are caused by an allele on the X chromosome
Women have two X chromosomes so a woman can have one allele for a sex – linked disorder without having the disorder
A woman who is heterozygous for the trait is a carrier
Men have just one X chromosome
This single chromosome determines if the trait is present

25. Cracking the Code

26. The genetic material in cells is contained in a molecule called DNA
DNA carries the information for cells to grow, divide and function
DNA is described as a code
A code is a set of rules and symbols used to carry information
Computers use a code of ones and zeros that is translated to letters, numbers and graphics
Many scientists over the world have contributed to our current understanding of DNA

27. Structure of DNA

28. The structure of DNA is a twisted ladder shape called a double helix
The two sides of the ladder, called the backbone, are made of alternating sugars and phosphate groups
The rungs of the ladder are made of a pair of bases, each attached to one of the sugars
A base, a sugar and a phosphate group make up a building block of DNA known as a nucleotide

29. Nucleotides

30. There are four different nucleotides in DNA
They are identified by their bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), Cytosine (C), and guanine (G)
Adenine always pairs with thymine (A – T)
Cytosine always pairs with guanine (C – G)
The order of the nucleotides in DNA is a code that carries information
Genes are segments of DNA that describe a different trait
Each gene reads a part of the code - this code stores information about which protein it should build – the protein built determines your trait

31. Replication

32. Cells are able to make copies of DNA molecules through a process known as replication
Two strands of DNA separate
The bases on each side of the molecule are used as a pattern for a new strand
As the bases on the original are exposed, complementary nucleotides are added
When replication is complete, there are two identical DNA molecules
Replication occurs before cell divides so that each new daughter cell will have a complete set of instructions

33. Mutations

34. Changes in the number, type, or order of bases on a piece of DNA are known as mutations
If a base is left out, it is known as a deletion
If a base is added, it is known as an insertion
The most common mutation happens when one base replaces another – substitution
Occurs due to random errors but can be influenced by chemical agents known as mutagens – ultraviolet light and cigarettes are examples
Mutations may be beneficial, harmful or neutral
A genetic disorder results from mutations that harm the normal function of a cell

35. Protein Factory

36. When the cell uses DNA to build proteins, it only needs some of the information stored in the DNA molecule
Some of the information in the DNA is copied to a separate molecule called ribonucleic acid, or RNA
The copy is used to build the protein
RNA has a similar structure to DNA, but instead of thymine (T), RNA contains the base uracil (U)
Three types of RNA: messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA and transfer RNA
Each type has a special role