Heredity

Genes

Small units of information inside cells containing instructions for body development and function, located on chromosomes.

DNA

Molecule carrying genetic information in living organisms, forming a double helix structure, with nucleotides A, T, C, and G.

Trait

Observable characteristic inherited from a living thing to its offspring, such as eye color or blood type, coded in genes.

Trait Variation

Natural differences in observable qualities between individuals of the same species, like hair length or activity level.

Genetics

Branch of biology studying heredity and variation, pioneered by Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics.

Alleles

Two forms of a gene (dominant and recessive), determining genotype and phenotype expression.

Genotype

Gene combination for a trait, homozygous (pure) or heterozygous (hybrid), influencing phenotype expression.

Phenotypes

Expression of an organism's genotype, like red or white color, influenced by dominant and recessive alleles.

Law of Dominance

Some alleles are expressed over others, masking recessive alleles in the phenotype.

Punnet Square

Tool for solving genetics problems, used in monohybrid and dihybrid crosses to predict offspring genotypes.

Law of Segregation

Alleles for a trait separate during gamete formation, recombine at fertilization, determining offspring traits.

Law of Independent Assortment

Factors of one trait's separation do not influence other traits' separation, shown in dihybrid crosses.