Flash Cards: Heredity

Heredity is the process by which traits and characteristics are passed from parents to offspring through genes.

Mendelian traits are characteristics that are determined by single genes, following the laws of inheritance established by Gregor Mendel.

The law of segregation states that during gamete formation, the two alleles for a trait separate, so each gamete receives only one allele.

Phenotype is the observable traits of an organism, while genotype is the genetic makeup that determines those traits.

An example of genetic variation is the different earlobe types in humans, such as free or attached earlobes.

Homozygous means having two identical alleles for a trait, while heterozygous means having two different alleles for that trait.

A Punnett square is used to predict the genotypes and phenotypes of offspring from a genetic cross.

Meiosis is the process that produces gametes with half the number of chromosomes, maintaining the chromosome number across generations during reproduction.

A gene is a segment of DNA that contains the instructions for making a specific protein, which in turn influences a trait.

Chromosomes are structures made of DNA that carry genetic information. Humans have 23 pairs, with one pair being the sex chromosomes.

In humans, sex is determined by the presence of X and Y chromosomes; females are XX and males are XY.

Vestigial structures are remnants of organs or structures that had a function in early ancestors but are largely reduced or unused in modern species.

Natural selection is the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Asexual reproduction produces offspring that are genetically identical to the parent, with very little genetic variation.

Genetic drift is a change in the frequency of a gene variant (allele) in a population due to random sampling of organisms.

Environmental factors can select for or against certain traits, leading to changes in the population over generations.

A genetic carrier is an individual who has one copy of a recessive allele that does not manifest in their phenotype but can be passed on to offspring.

Hybridization is the process of crossing different species or varieties to produce offspring with desired traits.