Genetics The field of biology devoted to understanding heredity, how characteristics are transmitted from parents to offspring.
GeneticsThe field of biology devoted to understanding heredity, how
characteristics are transmitted from parents to offspring.
Gregor Mendel
• Entered monastery in Brunn, Austria at age of 21 in 1842.
• Assigned task of tending the garden.• 1851 entered the University of Vienna to
study science and mathematics (Statistics).• Returned to monastery to teach high school
and kept a garden plot where he grew garden peas , Pisum sativum.
• Considered the father of genetics.
Mendel observed 7 characteristics each with 2 contrasting traits.
Important vocabulary for understanding Mendel’s experiments.• Pollination = plant reproduction
anthers/stamens(male) stigma/carpel(female)• Self-pollination vs. cross-pollination• Mendel controlled pollination by removing
anthers.• Pure – ALWAYS produce offspring with a
particular trait (14 total for the pea plants he observed).
Mendel’s Experiments
Mendel’s Results and Conclusions
• Recessive and Dominant Traits• Law of Segregation• Law of Independent Assortment
Recessive and Dominant Traits
• Recessive Factor – lower case• Dominant Factor – upper case• Factors are now called Alleles.
Law of Segregation
• A pair of factors is segregated, or separated, during the formation of gametes.
Law of Independent Assortment
• Factors for different characteristics are distributed to gametes independently.
More Vocabulary
• Genotype – genetic make-up of an organism. Pp• Phenotype – physical appearance of an org. Purple• Homozygous – both alleles of a pair are alike: PP, pp, both dominant or both recessive. (Pure)• Heterozygous – Alleles of a pair are different: Pp, one dominant and one recessive. (Hybrid)