BIO FLASHCARDS 4

DNA Technology

A broad term for manipulating, analyzing, and applying DNA to different purposes such as medicine, agriculture, and bioengineering

Recombinant DNA

DNA spliced together from multiple sources

Transgenic Organism

An organism with recombinant DNA

Short Tandem Repeats

Technology used for comparing specific sets of DNA

Gene Therapy

A treatment that involves replacing faulty genes in a person’s cells

Evolution

Occurs when there are changes in heritable traits from generation to generation

Population

Consists of interbreeding members of the same species

Gene Pool

Entire collection of genes and alleles

Uniformitarianism

States that current geological processes such as volcanoes, were also present in the past

The Law of Superposition

States that fossils in older layers of the dirt were older than ones in newer layers of the dirt

Convergent Evolution

States that organisms share characteristics as a result of similar environmental conditions

Artificial Selection

Humans choosing which organisms breed with who for specific traits

Natural Selection

Occurs when an individual’s genotype best suited to the eviornment has greater reproductive success

Fitness

The individual’s ability to pass their genetics along to the next generation; to survive and reproduce

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

The unlikely situation in while allele frequencies do not change between generations

Disruptive Selection

Two or more extreme phenotypes have higher fitness than the intermediate

Stabilizing Selection

The intermediate phenotype has a higher fitness than the extreme phenotypes

Balanced polymorphisms

A gene persists in the population even if the allele is harmful

Heterozygote advantage

When the heterozygote has a greater fitness than the homozygotes

Sexual dimorphism

The difference in appearance between male and females

Intrasexual Selection

One sex competes against itself for access to the opposite sex

Intersexual Selection

One sex chooses their mates from several members of the other sex, often based on a sexually dimorphic trait.

Genetic Drift

The change in allele frequencies by chance

The Founder Effect

Occurs when a small group of individuals leaves their home population and starts a new one

Bottleneck Effect

When a population rapidly shrinks in size

Gene Flow

When alleles move from one population to another, often through migration