Genetics Introduction

Front

What is genetics?

Back

Genetics is the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics.

Front

Who is known as the father of genetics?

Back

Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics for his work on pea plants.

Front

What are genes?

Back

Genes are segments of DNA that contain the instructions for building proteins, which determine traits.

Front

What is a chromosome?

Back

A chromosome is a long strand of DNA wrapped around proteins, containing many genes.

Front

How many chromosomes do humans have?

Back

Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, totaling 46.

Front

What is a dominant trait?

Back

A dominant trait is a trait that is expressed or shown when at least one dominant allele is present.

Front

What is a recessive trait?

Back

A recessive trait is a trait that is only expressed when two recessive alleles are present.

Front

What does heterozygous mean?

Back

Heterozygous refers to having two different alleles for a particular gene, such as Hh.

Front

What does homozygous mean?

Back

Homozygous refers to having two identical alleles for a particular gene, such as HH or hh.

Front

How do we symbolize a recessive trait?

Back

A recessive trait is symbolized by a lowercase (small) letter.