Heredity, Respiration, Excretion, and Circulation Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering heredity, respiration, excretion, and the circulatory system.

Trait

A characteristic that an organism can pass to its offspring through genes.

Pedigree

A graphic representation of genetic inheritance.

Carrier (Genetics)

A person who has a recessive allele for a trait and one dominant allele but does not express the trait.

Carrier (Disease)

A heterozygous individual that carries a mutated disease-causing gene but does not express the symptoms.

Fetus

A developing human from the ninth week of development until birth.

Cystic Fibrosis

A genetic disorder resulting in the formation and accumulation of thick mucus in the lungs and digestive tracts.

Tay-Sachs Disease

A recessive disorder of the central nervous system, leading to the absence of an enzyme that breaks down lipids in the brain.

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

A recessive disorder resulting from the absence of an enzyme that converts phenylalanine to tyrosine, leading to damage in the central nervous system if untreated.

Huntington’s Disease

A rare, inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain.

Incomplete dominance

The phenomenon in which two true-breeding parents crossed to produce an intermediate offspring (heterozygous). Both parents are homozygous dominant.

Codominance allele

The phenomenon in which two alleles are fully expressed at the same time in a heterozygote.

Multiple alleles

Three or more forms of a gene that code for a single trait.

Autosome

The 1st-22nd pair of chromosomes in humans that are not responsible for sex determination.

Sex chromosome

The 23rd pair of chromosomes that determines the sex of the organism and are indicated by X and Y. ( In humans, XX is a female whereas XY is male).

Sex-linked trait

A trait that is controlled by genes located on the sex chromosomes.

Polygenic inheritance

The inheritance pattern of a trait that is controlled by two or more genes.

Artery

A large, thick-walled, muscular, elastic blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart.

Vein

A large blood vessel that carries blood from the tissues back toward the heart.

Capillary

A microscopic blood vessel with walls that are only one cell thick.

Atrium

Each of the two upper chambers of the heart that receives blood coming into the heart.

Ventricle

Each of the two lower chambers of the heart that pumps blood to the lungs and body.

ECG (Electrocardiogram)

A test that records the electrical activity of your heart, including its rate and rhythm.

Blood pressure

The pressure that is exerted from the blood against the walls of the blood vessels.