Genetics

• Who is known for the foundational work in genetics?

  Gregor Mendel
• What did Mendel's work help to explain?

  Understanding of genetics
• Why was Mendel's discovery not recognized until after his death?

  Scientists believed in blended inheritance
• What are genes?

  Sections of DNA on a chromosome
• What are alleles?

  Different versions of a gene
• What does a dominant allele do?

  Mask the effect of a recessive allele
• What is an example of a recessive allele?

  Allele for cystic fibrosis
• What did Mendel discover about characteristics during inheritance?

  They are not blended
• What did Mendel say about inherited units?

  They do not change when passed on
• What are Mendel's inherited units now called?

  Genes
• What happens to some characteristics in later generations?

  They can be masked and reappear
• What was the shape of the pea pod in Mendel's experiments?

  It had no effect on flower color
• What misconception did many scientists hold about inheritance during Mendel's time?

  Characteristics were blended when inherited
• What did scientists study in the late 1800s that related to Mendel's work?

  How chromosomes behaved during cell division
• When was Mendel's work rediscovered?

  In the late 1800s
• What did scientists realize about Mendel's units by the early 1900s?

  They behaved like chromosomes
• What were Mendel's units renamed to?

  Genes
• What significant discovery was made about DNA in the mid-1900s?

  The structure of DNA and gene function
• What are the key concepts of Mendelian genetics?

  • Genes are sections of DNA.
  • Alleles are different versions of genes.
  • Dominant alleles mask recessive alleles.
  • Characteristics are not blended in inheritance.
  • Inherited units do not change when passed on.
  • Some characteristics can be masked and reappear.
• What is the historical significance of Mendel's work?

  • Established foundational principles of genetics.
  • Misunderstood during his lifetime.
  • Rediscovered in the late 1800s.
  • Linked to chromosome behavior in early 1900s.