Bio Mastery

• Gregor Mendel

  An Austrian monk and scientist who lived in the 1800s, the founder of modern genetics for his laws of inheritance
• Mendel is remembered as the Father of Genetics
• Law of Independent Assortment

  Genes for different traits segregate independently of each other, separate traits are separately inherited, because during meiosis the chromosomes line up randomly before the cell divides, allowing for gamete formation
• Law of Dominance

  There are dominant and recessive traits, dominant traits are defined as whichever phenotype is expressed in an organism that is heterozygous for the trait
• Law of Segregation

  Everyone has two versions (called alleles) for each trait—one from each parent—and these alleles segregate randomly during meiosis
• Pedigree

  Similar to a family tree which shows a systematic listing of individuals from one generation to another usually following a trait of interest
• Genotype

  The complete set of genetic material, can also refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location
• Phenotype

  The set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism
• Genetics is a branch of biology that deals with heredity and variation
• Heredity

  Takes place because of linkage and crossing over which is responsible for variation
• Linkage

  Means something is linked and will be transferred to the next generation
• Unlinked Genes

  • Genes found in the same or different chromosomes, distance is far from each other, chance of crossing over is very high, can't travel as a whole in next generation, less percentage of parental type, high percentage of recombination, can assort independently
• Linked Genes

  • Genes found in the same or different chromosomes, distance is close from each other, chance of crossing over is very low, travel as a whole in next generation, high percentage of parental type, less percentage of recombination, cannot assort independently
• Number of linked genes in human is 23, the number in haploid chromosomes
• Types of Linkage

  • Complete Linkage - No crossing over, % of recombination is very low
  • Incomplete Linkage - Crossing over takes place, % of recombination is very high
• Thomas Hunt Morgan is the Father of Sex Linkage, studied drosophila (fruit fly)
• Linkage Frequency

  It is inversely proportional to the distance between the genes
• Y Chromosome

  Ability to determine sex, and specifically to create males with its presence led to the speculation that there was a testis determining factor (TDF), which was later identified as the gene in the sex-determining region of Y chromosome (SRY), because its absence in XY mice leads to female development
• X Chromosome

  One of the two sex chromosomes in humans (the other is the Y chromosome)
• Sex-Linked Genetic Disorders

  Genetic disorders caused by an allele on the X chromosome
• Central Dogma in Biomolecules

  The process by which the genetic information in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of proteins
• DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

  The molecule that records the genetic information, it is a double helix and can be compared to a ladder
• Nucleotides

  Monomers that make up the DNA, composed of phosphate molecule, pentose sugar and nitrogenous base
• Nitrogenous Groups

  • Purines
  • Pyrimidines
• Nucleosomes

  The DNA segments that wrap around eight histones
• Protein

  The end product of DNA and the most abundant biomolecule
• Structures of Proteins

  • Primary Structure
  • Secondary Structure
  • Tertiary Structure
  • Quaternary Structure
• DNA Replication

  The careful reproduction of DNA molecules in a cell
• Ligase

  A connecting enzyme that seals the sugar phosphate backbone resulting in a new DNA strand that is antiparallel to the continuous strand of DNA
• RNA (Ribonucleic Acid)

  A single strand molecule
• Purines

  which include adenine and guanine have a two ring structure
• Pyrimidines

  which include cytosine and thymine have a single ring structure.
• Huntington's Disease

  is a rare, inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain.
• Hemophilia

  is a rare and inherited disorder in which the blood doesn't clot in the typical way because it doesn't have enough blood-clotting proteins (clotting factors)
• Fragile X Syndrome

  is a cause of intellectual disability and is linked to the X chromosome. Males are more likely to be affected by this disorder compared to females
• Color Blindness

  Is a reduced ability to distinguish between colors when compared to the standard for normal human color vision.
• there are 64 codons 61 with specific amino acid and 3 stop codons.