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Genetics Vocabulary
STUDY GUIDEEEE
Question | Answer |
---|---|
DNA | (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) genetic instructions for an organism- all living things have DNA |
Chromosomes | DNA is organized into these for cell replication (copying) Humans typically have 46 (23 from mom and 23 from dad) |
Characteristic | A feature that has different forms in a population- like a category (ex: hair color, stem height) |
Trait | The different forms of a characteristic (ex: red hair, brown hair, blonde) |
Heredity | The passing of genetic traits from one generation to another (parents to offspring) |
DOMINANT | A trait that covers up the other form of the trait, represented by a capital letter |
recessive | A trait that is hidden, represented by a lowercase letter |
Gene | Instructions for an inherited trait |
Allele | One of the alternative forms of a gene that governs a characteristic, such as hair color |
Genotype | An organism’s genetic makeup, or allele combination (think type of genes- Aa, AA, or aa) |
Phenotype | An organism’s physical appearance (how we actually see the trait- brown hair or blond hair) |
Heterozygous | Having two different alleles for a trait (Bb) |
Homozygous | Having two identical (same) alleles for a trait (BB or bb) |
Incomplete dominance | In the heterozygous form, the phenotype is a blend of the two (example: Tall is dominant (T) short is recessive (t) then Tt would be medium height) |
Codominance | In the heterozygous form, both phenotypes are expressed (example: in flower petals, red = R, white = r; Rr would be a flower that is red and white striped) |
Mitosis | When cells duplicate to make exact copies |
Meiosis | When sperm or egg cells duplicate and create genetic variet |