Term | Definition |
Allele | one of the alternative forms of a gene that governs a characteristic, such as hair color. |
Autosome | Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome |
Codominance | A condition in which both alleles for a gene are fully expressed |
Dominant trait | the trait observed when at least one dominant allele for a characteristic is inherited |
Genetics | the Science of heredity and of the mechanisms by which traits are passed from parents to offspring. |
Genotype | the entire Genetic makeup of an organism; also the combination of genes for one or more specific traits. |
Heredity | the Passing of genetic traits from parent to offspring |
heterozygous | Describes an individual that has two different alleles for a trait |
Homozygous | describes an individual that has identical alleles for a trait on both homologous chromosomers. |
Incomplete dominance | a condition in which a trait in an individual is intermediate between the phenotype of the individual's two parents because the dominant allele is unable to express itself fully. |
Monohybrid cross | A cross between individuals that involves one pair of contrasting traits |
Pedigree | A diagram that shows the occurrence of a genetic trait in several generations of a family. |
Phenotype | An organism's appearance or other detectable characteristic that results from the organism's genotype and the environment. |
Probability | the likelihood that a possible future event will occur in any given instance of the event; the mathematical ratio of the number of times one outcome of any event is likely to occur to the number of possible outcomes of the event. |
Punnett Square | A graphic used to predict the results of a genetic cross. |
Recessive Trait | A trait that is apparent only when two recessive alleles for the same characteristic are inherited |
Sex-linked Trait | a trait that is determined by a gene found on one of the sex chromosomes, such as the X chromosome or the Y chromosome in humans |
Test Cross | the crossing of an individual of unknown genotype with a homozygous recessive individual to determine the unknown genotype |