scince

heredity

the passing of traits from parent to offspring

trait

a characteristic or feature that can be passed from parent to offspring

genetics

the scientific study of heredity

purebred

an organism with two identical alleles for a specific trait

gene

a section of DNA that controls a specific trait

alleles

the different forms of a gene

dominant

an allele whose trait is always expressed when the allele is present

recessive

an allele whose trait is hidden or masked by a dominant allele

hybrid

an organism that has two different alleles for a specific trait

phenotype

an organism's physical appearance or visible traits

genotype

an organism's genetic makeup or allele combination

homozygous

a synonym for purebred

heterozygous

a synonym for hybrid

Gregor Mendel

the scientist known as the "Father of Genetics"

Walter Sutton

the scientist who developed the Chromosome Theory of Inheritance

probability

the likelihood or chance that a particular event will occur

complete (simple) dominance

when one allele is dominant and the other allele is recessive

incomplete dominance

when the dominant allele cannot completely cover the recessive allele creating a third blended phenotype

codominance

when both alleles are dominant and therefore expressed in an individual

Punnett square

a chart that shows all of the possible outcomes of a genetic cross