The study of heredity Heredity passing of traits

The study of heredity

Heredity = passing of traits from parents to offspring

Characteristic: feature that has different forms Eye color Hair color Height Facial features Skin color Etc.

When organisms reproduce, traits are passed from parents to offspring. These traits are carried in DNA, the genetic information found in the nucleus.

Genes = DNA that codes for a specific trait Alleles = different forms of a gene Dominant Example: T, R, S When a dominant allele is present it masks the recessive allele. recessive Alleles are coded with a CAPITAL LETTER alleles are coded with a lowercase letter Example: t, r, s The “weaker” allele EXAMPLE: DRAGON COLOR - Dominant – Green – G - Recessive – Purple - g

Organisms have TWO alleles for each gene. One allele comes from their mom and one their dad.

EXAMPLE: DRAGON COLOR - Dominant – Green – G - Recessive – Purple - g Using alleles (G or g) how would you show that the dragon is green. REMEMBER, the dragon has TWO alleles (one from each parent)

Genotype = an organisms’ allele combination for a particular trait Phenotype = the organisms visible appearance (WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE!) Example: Gene/trait: Widows peak Alleles: Widows peak – dominant – W No widows peak – recessive – w Genotype: Ww Phenotype: Widows peak