Basic Genetic Concepts & Terms Genetics: what is it?

Basic Genetic Concepts & Terms

Genetics: what is it?

• What is genetics?
• “Genetics is the study of heredity, the process in which a parent passes certain genes onto their children.” (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002048.htm)
• What does that mean?
• Children inherit their biological parents’ genes that express specific traits, such as some physical characteristics, natural talents, and genetic disorders.

Word Match Activity

• Match the genetic terms to their corresponding parts of the illustration.
• base pair
• cell
• chromosome
• DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)
• double helix*
• genes
• nucleus
• Illustration Source: Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms http://www.genome.gov/glossary/

Word Match Activity

• base pair
• cell
• chromosome
• DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)
• double helix*
• genes
• nucleus
• Illustration Source: Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms http://www.genome.gov/glossary/

• base pair

• cell

• nucleus

• chromosome

• (double helix)
• DNA

• genes

Genetic Concepts

• H describes how some traits are passed from parents to their children.
• The traits are expressed by g , which are small sections of DNA that are coded for specific traits.
• Genes are found on ch ___.
• Humans have two sets of _ (hint: a number) chromosomes—one set from each parent.

Genetic Concepts

• Heredity describes how some traits are passed from parents to their children.
• The traits are expressed by genes, which are small sections of DNA that are coded for specific traits.
• Genes are found on chromosomes.
• Humans have two sets of 23 chromosomes—one set from each parent.

Genetic Terms

• Use library resources to define the following words and write their definitions using your own words.
• allele:
• genes:
• dominant :
• recessive:
• homozygous:
• heterozygous:
• genotype:
• phenotype:
• Mendelian Inheritance:

Mendelian Inheritance

• The inherited traits are determined by genes that are passed from parents to children.
• A child inherits two sets of genes—one from each parent.
• A trait may not be observable, but its gene can be passed to the next generation.

Mendelian Inheritance

• Each person has 2 copies of every gene—one copy from mom and a second copy from dad. These copies may come in different variations, known as alleles, that express different traits.
• For example, 2 alleles in the gene for freckles are inherited from mom and dad:
• allele from mom = has freckles (F)
• allele from dad = no freckles (f)
• child has the inherited gene pair of alleles, Ff (F allele from mom and f allele from dad).