GENETICSDNA, CHROMOSOMES, AND HEREDITY

By Mrs. Figueroa, Ed.S

GENETICS: The study of how traits are passed from parents to offspring

A trait is something about you that makes you "you." When your mother says that you get all your best traits from her, she means you have the same charming smile and the same brilliant mind as she has. In science, trait refers to a characteristic that is caused by

genetics.

Heredity

• Heredity is the passing of traits from parents to offspring. Every new generation of organisms requires a set of instructions. These instructions determine what an organism will look like. (Chapter 10, Page 454-462)

Chromosomes

A cell viewed through a microscope

Chromosomes: It is inside the nucleus of the cell. Chromosomes contain genetic information that controls traits.A gene is a section on a chromosome that has genetic information for a trail. (Page 471)

• The different forms of a gene are called alleles. (Page 471)

• Geneticists call how a trait appears, or is expressed phenotype (Page 472)

• The two alleles that control the phenotype of a trait are called the trait’s genotype (Page 472)