Transcript Genetics Vocab.

Genetics
The study of heredity
Heredity
 The passing of
traits from parent
to their offspring
is called heredity.
DNA (not on Genetics Vocab. Sheet)
 The DNA is found in
the nucleus of the
cell.
 DNA is like a
blueprint that
instructs the cells
how to organize and
produce certain
traits.
Genes
 Genes are segments of
DNA.
 Your genes control your
inherited traits. This is
true for all living
things.
Traits
 An organism’s characteristics.
Examples: height, hair color, hair texture
Inherited Traits
 Received from your biological parents
 Examples: natural eye color, hair color, height, blood
type.
 They can be passed on to the next generation.
Acquired Traits
 Developed during life (not born with it)
 Examples
 Things you learned
(riding a bike, reading, writing)
 Things that happened to you
(short hair, broken bone)
Allele
 Alternative forms of a trait.
 The hair color trait has many different
forms : brown, blonde, black, red, etc
Law of Dominance
(not on vocab. sheet)
 Organism receives two alleles for
each trait
 One from each parent
 One allele is usually stronger
than the other
 The trait of the stronger allele is
what you see.
Kinds of Genes
Dominant alleles:
Recessive alleles:
 Stronger allele that
 Weaker allele that is
always shows itself.
 Dominant means having
authority or influence
over
hidden when dominant
gene is present
 Recessive means tending
to move back or
withdraw from.
Genes
 When two alleles come together they form a gene for
a specific trait.
 Purebred – having two like alleles
(homozygous)
example: BB or ff
 Hybrid – having two unlike alleles
(heterozygous)
example: Bb or Ff
Phenotype
 The visible characteristic of an organism.
 Examples:
Blue eyes
Brown hair
Genotype
 The actual allele (letter) combination for an
organism.
 Examples:
BB
Ff
rr
Punnett square
 A chart that
shows possible
gene
combinations.