1. Heredity Vocabulary
Sexual Reproduction- a cell containing genetic info from the mother and a cell containing genetic info from the father combine into a completely new cell, which becomes the offspring
Heredity- the passing of genes from parents to offspring
Gene- unit of heredity that occupies a specific location on a chromosome and codes for a particular product
Alleles- various forms of the same gene
Phenotype- describes the physical characteristics that can be observed
Genotype- the name for the genes an organism has
Dominant- describes an allele that determines the phenotype of an individual organism when two different copies are present in the genotype; this allele wins out over the others
Recessive- describes an allele that is not expressed when combined with a dominant form; this allele loses when a dominant allele is present
Heterozygous- having different pairs of alleles for the same characteristic
Homozygous- having identical pairs of alleles for the same characteristic