Genetic Overview

Vocabulary:

• Gene: DNA segment that may code for a specific trait, built of nucleotides, maintain genetic continuity and transfer information from generation to generation

• Proteins: Different chemical complexes that form different working parts of a cell/body/life process, ended within a gene

• Mendel: Discovered traits are inherited, did work in 1866 on peas. Called genes ‘heredity units’, did controlled experiments. His work was ignored during his life, later discovered

  • Law of segregation: Separation of two alleles of the same gene during gamete formation

  • Law of independent assortment: Alleles of different genes segregate independently of each other during meiosis

  • Dominance and recessiveness: Some alleles mask the expression of others

• Chromosomal theory of inheritance: Proposed by Walter Sutton, Theodor Boveri, and Thomas Hunt Morgan, states that Mendelian factors (genes) have specific sites (loci) along chromosomes and the chromosome undergoes segregation and independent assortment

• Recombinant Technology: Started the era of cloning, started in the 1970s when researchers discovered enzymes in bacteria that cut out viral DNA, allowed for specific parts of DNA to be removed/added to all other kinds of organisms

• Human Genome Project (HGP): IN 2003, coordinated effort to sequence all of the human DNA, illustrated there are sets of important genes for cellular function and reproduction

• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Result of the manipulation of an organism’s genes to alter or enhance certain traits, common in agriculture

• CRISPR: A type of gene editing experimentally treating sickle cell anemia since 2021, replaces DNA that causes SCA causing bone marrow cells to function as intended

• Central Dogma: DNA → RNA → Protein, with DNA transcribing into RNA which is translated into proteins unidirectionally

• Plasmid: A protective molecule that encases certain genetic material when implanting between organisms, to prevent natural breakdown by the host cell

• Genome: The complete set of genetic instructions for a given organism, made by either DNA or RNA. Measures as a haploid, with only one copy of the DNA

• Genomics: The field that studies how different traits and genes interact with each other

• Human genome project: Done in 2003, sequences the entire human genome and gave info to bioinformatics about disease susceptibility

• Proteomics: Study of protein sets present in cells

• Bioinformatics: Uses hardware to process protein and genetic data

• Karyotype: The organization of homologous pairs of chromosomes for an organism

• Hox genes: Important genes that specify where different parts of the body belong, exist in clusters

• Physical trait: Something in appearance, less simple than Punnett squares, typically controlled by multiple genes and sometimes outside factors like nutrition and environment

• Disease predisposition: Varying factors in genes may indicate higher risk for developing specific conditions