Friday, January 12, 2024 - Intro to Traits

Gregor Mendel:

• father of genetics

• scientist in the 1800s

• studied traits in the garden pea plant while living at a monestary

• used 28,000 pea plants to record his data

• data was able to support 3 laws of genetics

  • mendel’s laws

Mendel’s Laws:

Mendel’s Law of Dominance

• dominants traits are expressed if it is present

Mendel’s Law of Segregation

• allels are seperated during meiosis

• each gamete recieves one allele of a trait

Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment

• the traits are seperated independently of all other traits in the organism

Heterozygous vs Homozygous

• heterozygous genes are genes that:

  • have 2 different allels for one gene

  • also called “hybrid”

    • example; Aa

• homozygous genes are genes that

  • have 2 of the same allele for one gene

  • also called “pure bred”

    • example; AA or aa

Genotype:

• the genetic makeup of an individual

• represented by letters for each allele

Phenotype:

• the observable characteristics of an individual organism

• what the offspring looks like

Punnet Square

• possible outcomes of traits for offspring