Good because it means the species will have genetic variation, allowing organisms to easily adapt to changes in the environment
Asexual reproduction
Good because it's very fast, allowing easy replenishment of the population, but produces genetically identical organisms that are more susceptible to disease
Meiosis
1. DNA replication
2. Chromosomes move to each end of the cell
3. First division
4. Chromatids move to each end of the cell
5. Second division
6. Results in four genetically different haploid cells
DNA
Deoxyribose nucleic acid, stored as chromosomes in the nucleus, has a double helix shape
Nucleotide
Made up of a phosphate, a sugar (deoxyribose), and a base (A, T, C, G)
Gene
A section of DNA that codes for a certain characteristic
Allele
A different version of a gene
Homozygous
Having the same two alleles for a gene
Heterozygous
Having different alleles for a gene
Dominant allele
Overrides recessive allele
Recessive allele
Requires two copies to be expressed
Genotype
The entire set of alleles an organism has
Phenotype
The alleles that are expressed and shown
Punnett square
Used to predict potential offspring genotypes and phenotypes
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease
Mendel was the first to study different genes using pea plants
