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Copy of Heredity and Inheritance Lesson

The document discusses heredity, traits, and genetics, highlighting Gregor Mendel's foundational work in the 1850s that established laws of inheritance. It explains the roles of genes, alleles, and how traits are expressed, including the distinction between dominant and recessive traits. Additionally, it covers the use of Punnett squares for predicting trait inheritance and the differences between identical and fraternal twins in terms of genetic similarity.

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vxu1992
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5 views19 pages

Copy of Heredity and Inheritance Lesson

The document discusses heredity, traits, and genetics, highlighting Gregor Mendel's foundational work in the 1850s that established laws of inheritance. It explains the roles of genes, alleles, and how traits are expressed, including the distinction between dominant and recessive traits. Additionally, it covers the use of Punnett squares for predicting trait inheritance and the differences between identical and fraternal twins in terms of genetic similarity.

Uploaded by

vxu1992
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Think about a trait that

you have. Why do you


think you have that
trait?
watch
• Heredity is the passing of traits
from parents to offspring.

• A trait is a genetically determined


characteristic.

• The study of how traits are passed


from parents to offspring is called
genetics.
• An Australian monk named Gregor
Mendel was named the “father of
genetics” in the 1850’s due to his
experimental work that led us to
more understanding about
heredity.

• He worked with the pea plants in


his monastery’s garden, studying
their characteristics. He controlled
what plants pollinated other
plants.
• Through his experimentation, he
discovered that traits are inherited in
predictable patterns and that two
genetic factors controlled each
trait.
How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics - Hortensia Jiménez
Díaz

• He also concluded that each


reproductive cell (sperm or egg)
contributes one factor for each trait.

• This all became a part of his laws of


inheritance that we still study today.
Why is Gregor Mendel known as
the “father of genetics?”
He is known as the “father of genetics”
because of his experimental work that led
to increased knowledge of genetics and
heredity.
• Segments of DNA found in chromosomes
that provide instructions for producing
certain characteristics are called genes.

• Offspring receive one set of genes from


each parent. These genes work in pairs
called alleles.

• The combination of alleles received from


your parents is called your genotype. Your
physical and observable traits, such as eye
color, freckles or height, make up your
phenotype.
• Some traits are stronger than others. A
dominant trait is a trait that will cover up the
traits of weaker ones, known as recessive
traits.

• If one chromosome in the pair contains a


dominant allele and a recessive one, the
dominant one will be expressed.

• Recessive traits will only express themselves


when both the alleles given by the parents
are recessive.
What happens to recessive alleles
when paired with dominant
alleles?
They are masked by the dominant alleles.
• When an organism has two of the
same allele, dominant or recessive,
it is known as homozygous.

• When an organism has two


different alleles (one dominant and
one recessive), it is known as
heterozygous.
• Traits can be influenced because of many genes
acting together. This can include the color of your
skin, hair and eyes.

• A single trait can also influence many traits.

• Sometimes, genes and the environment can work


together to influence an organism’s phenotype.

• Example: Genes influence the amount of


melanin in the skin, but sunlight contributes to
melanin production as well.
The ability to skateboard well is an
acquired trait. Is this something that your
offspring will inherit? Why or why not?
No. You were not born knowing how to
skateboard. You had to learn how to do it and
so will your offspring.
• A tool that is used for understanding
heredity is a Punnett square. It helps
you figure out the probability that an
offspring will express a certain trait.

• Each parent has two alleles for a


particular trait and the offspring
receives one allele for each parent,
the Punnett square can show all the
possible allele combinations.
• Dominant alleles are represented by a
capital letter and recessive alleles are
represented by a lowercase letter.

• The top of the Punnett square shows one


parent’s alleles for a specific trait and the
left side shows the other parent’s alleles for
that trait. Each of the individual
compartments shows the possible allele
combinations.

• In this Punnett square, 75% of the offspring


will be purple and 25% will be white.
The allele for brown cats in this Punnett square is (B) and the
allele for white cats is (b). Identify the probability of each by
competing the Punnett square.

25%
BB Bb 50%
25%

75%
Bb bb 25%
• Sex chromosomes determine the
sex of an organism.

• Females have two X chromosomes


and men have one X and one Y
chromosome.

• Alleles for traits that are on X or Y


chromosomes are called
sex-linked traits.
• Identical twins occur when a single
zygote splits into two separate
embryos. Since they come from the
same egg, they have nearly
identical DNA. They are always the
same sex.

• Fraternal twins occur when two


separate eggs are fertilized by two
separate sperm cells. They share
about 50% of genetic material, like
siblings. They can be different sexes.
How do identical twins and fraternal
twins differ in the amount of DNA they
share?
Identical twins have identical DNA. Fraternal
twins share 50% of DNA.

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