Genetics: Heredity Vocabulary

essential vocab

• heredity: the passing of traits from parent to offspring
• genetics: the branch of biology that studies heredity
• alleles: different versions of a gene
  • eg. blue v brown eye color
• homozygous: when two alleles of a particular gene are the same
  • eg. BB/bb
• heterozygous: when the alleles of a particular gene are different
  • eg. Bb
• genotype: the set of alleles an individual has
• phenotype: physical appearance of a trait
  • eg: phenotype: brown eyes - genotype: BB/Bb - dominant: B
• law of segregation: the two alleles for a trait separate when gametes are formed
• law of independent assortment: the alleles of different genes separate independently of one another during meiosis
• testcross: a cross between an organism with an unknown genotype and an organism with the recessive phenotype

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