Heredity

Q: Passing of genes from parents to offspring

A: Heredity

Q: Thin strands of DNA in the cell nucleus that carry the genetic

code.

A: Chromosomes

Q: Where hereditary information is found in the body.

Units of DNA.

A: Genes

Q: Inheritable characteristics of parents.

(Hair and eye color, height, blood type, musical ability)

A: Traits

Q: Stronger trait that will show up in offspring.

A: Dominant Trait

Q: Weaker trait that won’t show up but doesn’t go away.

May appear in later pairings.

A: Recessive Trait

Q: A different form a gene may have for a trait (Ex: R or r)

A: Alleles

Q: The genetic make-up of an organism for a trait.

A: Genotype

Q: A physical trait (eye color, hair color) that shows up as a

result of an organism’s particular genotype.

A: Phenotype

Q: The form of a trait that is the most common in a population

because only one allele is needed for it to show.

Ex: R in Rr

A: Dominant

Q: The form of a trait that tends to disappear in a population

because to show up, two alleles of this are needed.

Ex: r in r r

A: Recessive

Q: An organism that has two identical alleles for a trait.

Ex: R R

A: Homozygous

Q: An organism that has two different alleles for a trait.

Ex: R r

A: Heterozygous

Q: Diagram that shows the probability of an offspring showing a particular trait.

A: Punnett Square

Q: Charts showing hereditary traits in family members

A: Pedigrees

Q: Methods used by scientists to change an organism’s DNA.

A: Genetic Engineering

Q: Scientist who first described how traits are passed from generation to generation.

A: Gregor Mendel