An aspect of the physical appearance of an organism that can vary
Proteins
Produced using the information found in the organism's DNA
Variation in DNA
Causes the production of proteins that contain differing orders of amino acids
Diploid organisms
Have two copies of each chromosome: a pair of homologous chromosomes
Meiosis
1. DNA is copied once and then divided twice
2. Separation of the homologous chromosomes
3. Only one copy of each gene gets moved into a gamete
Gamete
Haploid cell (egg or sperm) that contains one copy of each chromosome
Offspring
Formed when a gamete unites with one from another parent and the two copies of each gene (and chromosome) are restored
Alleles
Gene variations that arise by mutation and exist at the same relative locations on homologous chromosomes
Homozygous
Diploid organism has two identical alleles, one on each of their homologous chromosomes
Heterozygous
Diploid organism has two different alleles
Complete dominance
A dominant allele will completely cover up a recessive allele
Genotype
An organism's underlying genetic makeup, consisting of both the physically visible and the non-expressed alleles
Phenotype
The observable traits expressed by an organism
Just because an allele is dominant does not automatically make it better than a recessive trait. It also does not make it more common than the recessive trait.
