MLS CYTOGENETICS LESSON 1 - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key genetics and cytogenetics concepts, historical milestones, and related branches.

Genetics

The study of inherited traits, rooted in DNA, and their variations and transmission.

Heredity

Transmission of traits and biological information between generations.

Inherited traits

Traits passed from parents to offspring, including physical features, disease risk, talents, quirks, and personality traits.

Genes

Units of heredity; biochemical instructions in DNA that tell cells how to make proteins.

Genome

Complete set of an organism’s genetic instructions, including protein-coding genes and other DNA sequences.

Exome

Part of the genome that encodes for proteins; the protein-coding portion.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that carries genetic information.

Chromosome

A structure that carries genes and transmits them during cell division.

Chromatin

The substance of the nucleus that constitutes the chromosomes.

Meiosis

Cell division that produces germ cells and links chromosome behavior to inheritance.

Germ plasm

Theory that hereditary factors are transmitted through germ plasm located on sex elements, not somatic cells.

Nucleus

Cell nucleus that bears the physical basis of heredity and houses chromatin.

Fertilization

Fusion of gametes forming a zygote; observed in animals and plants and linked to heredity.

Mendel (Gregor Mendel)

Father of genetics; discovered the basic laws of inheritance in 1865.

Chromosome theory of heredity

Idea that genes are located on chromosomes and their segregation explains inheritance.

Correns

One of the scientists who independently rediscovered Mendel’s laws in 1901.

Weismann

Proposed that hereditary units are organized along chromosomes and introduced germ plasm continuity.

Boveri

Demonstrated the chromosome theory of heredity.

Baltzer

Co-developer of the chromosome theory of heredity with Boveri.

Morgan

Led to assigning genes to loci on chromosomes and contributed to chromosome mapping.

Sturtevant

Morgan’s collaborator who developed gene mapping on chromosomes.

Bridges

Morgan’s collaborator who helped confirm the chromosome-location of genes.

Johannsen

Defined loci as positions of hereditary units within chromosomes.

Cytogenetics

Study of chromosomes and related disease states caused by abnormal chromosome number or structure.

Cytology

Study of cells.

Transmission genetics

Relationship between gene transmission from parents to offspring and trait outcomes.

Molecular genetics

Study of how the genetic material works at the molecular level.

Population genetics

Study of how processes like natural selection affect allele frequencies in populations.

DNA profiling

Compares DNA sequences to determine identity, relatedness, or ancestry.

Forensics

Application of genetics to identify individuals or relationships using DNA.

Pharmacogenomics

Uses gene variants to predict drug efficacy and potential side effects.

Pharmacogenetics

Assesses how individual gene variants affect drug response and safety.

Genetic Genealogy

Study of ancestry and relationships using genetic data (including forensics and ancestry DNA)

Enumerate the levels of genetics from smallest to largest

1. DNA

2. Genes

3. Chromosomes

4. Genome

5. Individual

6. Families

7. Population