2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots Today we know

Today we know that DNA exists, and we know what it does. But, the ideas of genetics and heredity came well before we discovered DNA. • • Genetics is the branch of biology that studies heredity. Heredity is the passing of traits, or characters, from parents to offspring. © 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Gregor Mendel: The Father of Genetics • An Austrian monk born in 1822. • Mendel was an expert botanist who researched how traits were inherited by plants. He is considered to be “The Father of Modern Genetics”. © 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Mendel: When q. Mendel used pea plants to perform his studies q. He kept detailed records of his pea plants among many generations and published his work in 1866. q. He described the invisible “factors” which we now call genes, as predictor for the invisible traits. q. New and exciting theories were established! © 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Mendel: Where q Mendel came from a poor Austrian farming family. q. His professors recommended that he become an Austrian Monk, because they place value on math and science. (c) 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Mendel: Why q. Mendel was the son of a farmer and he had a genuine love plants and science. q. While at the monastery, he access to his own garden where he was able to experiment and research the transmission of traits in plant hybrids. q. He was able to disprove that traits are a blending of parent traits. (c) 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Mendel: How q. Mendel spent over 8 years, working with pea plants because they were easy to grow. q. He would transfer pollen from one plant to another, known as crossbreeding plants. q. He conducted experiments on nearly 29, 000 plants which allowed him to manipulate 7 observable traits. (c) 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Mendel studied the following pea characteristics: 1. Seed shape 4. Pod shape 7. Stem length 2. Seed color 5. Pod Color © 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots") 3. Flower color 6. Flower Placement on stem

Mendel: What q. Mendel coined the terms “Dominant” & “Recessive” and developed 2 laws. q. Law of Segregation: q. The alleles separate from each other in the formation of sex cells. q. Half the alleles come from mom and the other half comes from dad. q. Law of Independent Assortment: q. Traits are passed on independently of other traits. (c) 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

Mendel’s Experiments The P generation consists of the first two true-bred individuals that are crossed. The P stands for Parental. The offspring of the P generation is called the F 1 generation. F stands for filial, which means “son” or “daughter”. Mendel's experiments allowed the F 1 generation to self-fertilize, which creates the F 2 generation, or the second filial generation. © 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")

In the F 1 generation all white flowers had disappeared, but in the F 2 generation, some had come back! The ratio seen in the F 2 generation was 3: 1, 3 purple flowers for each white flower. Organisms can carry both dominant and recessive genes, but one masks the other. The purple trait is dominant over the white trait, which is recessive. © 2013 Vanessa Jason ("Biology Roots")