Advanced Higher Biology Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for key concepts in Advanced Higher Biology covering course overview, cells and proteins, organisms and evolution, investigative biology, scientific principles, and experimentation.

Evolution

Change over time in the proportion of individuals in a population differing in one or more inherited traits.

Natural Selection

Acts on genetic variation in populations. Individuals with variations better suited to their environment tend to survive longer and produce more offspring, passing on advantageous alleles.

Sexual Selection

Selection of alleles that increase an individual’s chances of mating and producing offspring, potentially leading to sexual dimorphism.

Genetic Drift

Occurs when chance events cause unpredictable fluctuations in allele frequencies from one generation to the next, more important in small populations.

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

In the absence of evolutionary influences, allele and genotype frequencies in a population will remain constant over generations; deviations suggest evolution.

Fitness

An individual's ability to be successful at surviving and reproducing; measured by contribution to the gene pool of the next generation.

Co-evolution

Process by which two or more species evolve in response to selection pressures imposed by each other, often seen in symbiotic relationships.

Aseptic Technique

Eliminates unwanted microbial contaminants when culturing micro-organisms or cells.

Proteome

The entire set of proteins expressed by a genome.

Apoptosis

Programmed cell death, essential during development and triggered by internal or external signals.

Ecological Niche

A multi-dimensional summary of tolerances and requirements of a species.

Scientific Method

Observation, construction of a testable hypothesis, experimental design, gathering and analysis of data, evaluation of results, and formation of a revised hypothesis if needed.

Monoclonal antibodies

Stocks of antibodies with the same specificity used in immunoassay techniques.

Ethogram

Lists species-specific behaviours to be observed and recorded in a study. Allows the construction of time budgets.

Parasitism

A symbiotic interaction between a parasite and its host (+/-) where the parasite gains benefit in terms of nutrients at the expense of its host.