Inherited characteristics:-

Inherited characteristics are characteristics or traits that

have been inherited or passed on from one generation to
another. Hence the latest generation has inherited its
characteristics from the generation before. Gregor Mendel
set up an experiment to see how features in one generation
of pea plant were passed on to the next. Pea plants
reproduce by self pollination. However, Mendel wanted the
two pea plants to cross-pollinate and so to control the way
that flowers pollinate he cut off the anthers of one flower,
collected pollen from another flower and brushed it onto the
stigma of the first flower. He also tied a muslin bag around
the stigma of the first flower to prevent any other pollen from
reaching it. The result when he cross pollinated two flowers
was as shown.
The result shows that when a tall and a short plant pollinated
it produced two tall plants which shows that the tall plant
was dominant. However, when the second generation plant
cross-pollinated it produced three tall plants and one short
plant in a 3:1 ration. Hence in the third generation, we can
see that the characteristic of the short plant from the third
generation can be seen. So in this case the characteristic in
the third generation plant was passed on from two
generations before. The same is the case with humans and
any other species. Some of our characteristics can seem to
be passed on from two generations before you i.e from your
grandfather or grandmother.

Chromosomes, DNA and genes:-

Chromosomes are thread-like strands that carry chemical

messages along with them. Normally, each cell in the human
body has 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 total chromosomes).
Half comes from the mother; the other half comes from the
father. A chromosome is made up of proteins and DNA. DNA
( Deoxyribonucleic acid ) is made up of four chemical bases:
adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T).
These bases form specific pairs (A with T, and G with C). The
two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds.

DNA consists of two strands that wind or coiled around each

other like a twisted ladder. This structure is known as a
double helix and the sugar-phosphate backbone helps
provide structural support to the molecules arranged in a
double helix. Genes are made up of sequences of DNA and
are arranged, one after another, at specific locations on
chromosomes in the nucleus of cells. The genes provide all
the information for how the cell grows, develops and
behaves etc. Each pair of chromosomes has pairs of genes
that carry information for a particular characteristic such as
eye colour or hair color.

How do genes work together?

The answer is that as the cell divides and forms the embryo,
all the genes in the nuclei are not switched on or used at
once. When it is time for an organ to develop, the genes that
control its development switch on and the cells that are
produced make the organ. Hence in a multicellular organism
like human genes work together like this.

Genes And Variations ( can also come under mutation )

During the formation of the gametes, parts of the

chromosomes can swap portions. This swiping leads to a
mixing up of the genes so an exact copy of the parent's
genetic code is not passed on. Sometimes, some of the
genetic material in the chromosomes can generate an extra
copy of itself and sometimes the genetic material can break
off too. Hence these all factors cause the new individual to
develop a slightly different combination of features from their
parent which may lead to variation in the species.

Selective breeding:-

Selective breeding is a program in which you take the best

plants or animals that you have in your population and then
you breed them together in hope of getting even better
offspring. We selectively breed for all sorts of things, like for
example cows that produce oodles of milk, for crops that
produce a ton of food and for cats and dogs for
domestication purposes. Selective breeding works when you
select an organism such as a tomato plant that has the
desired characteristics and breed them together to produce
some even better plants in the next generation. We do this
over and over again by always picking up the best organisms
from each generation and breeding them together to obtain
the best results. Hence, selective breeding involves selecting
organisms with the desired traits and breeding them
together. Some drawbacks of selective breeding are that it
reduces the gene pool of the population. When we do
selective breeding over and over again we are going to get a
smaller and smaller pool of alleles as we keep on removing
the bad ones and keep collecting the good ones and because
these “best individuals” are closely related to each other and
have a similar kind of genes, chances are that if a pathogen
is able to infect one of these individual then probably all of
them will get infected. This is called inbreeding. The second
drawback is that there is less variation in the population.

Mutation:-

Mutation is a change in genetic material or more specifically

a change within the nucleic acid. RNA or DNA are both types
of nucleic acid. Mutations are random and there are a lot of
factors that can cause mutations to occur more likely.
External factors like some kind of chemicals or excessive
radiations or internal factors like during cell division when a
few parts of chromosomes swap positions randomly can
cause mutations. DNA makes up genes and genes can code
for proteins that influence different traits. So when a
mutation in DNA happens then different proteins can be
produced which can affect an organism's trait. Mutation in
dna can happen through substitution in which the wrong
base is matched. Insertion which means an extra base or
bases are added. There is also deletion in which a base is
removed.

Some examples of chromosomal mutations include

duplication in which extra copies of genes are added.
Deletion where some of the genetic material breaks off.
Inversion when parts of chromosomes swap positions.

Genetically modified organisms:-

In genetic modification we transfer a specific new gene from
one species into a completely unrelated species which might
be useful for that particular species. For example, to make a
medicine for diabetes we cut out the human insulin gene
(which is responsible for controlling sugar levels) from a
human using an enzyme and then transfer it to the DNA of a
bacteria using the same enzyme. This causes a new gene
that is responsible for controlling the sugar levels in humans
to develop inside a bacteria and a little while later when
millions of bacteria with the same gene are produced using
binary fission, the human insulin is filtered out and can then
be used for people with diabetes to control their sugar levels.
Genetic modifications can also be done by switching off a
certain gene in an organism. For instance a gene present
inside a tomato plant which is responsible for making
tomatoes soft can be deactivated to make the tomatoes be
stored for a longer period of time. The aims behind
developing GM foods are to help crops to grow better and
produce a higher yield or help the food to be processed more
quickly. Some scientists disagree with the use of genetically
modified organisms because if they enter a natural habitat
they may breed with the organisms already there to produce
more unusual organisms, which may have a negative impact
on the environment.

Clones:-

Amoeba, which is a protozoa, produces a clone by

simply dividing into two. The amoeba produces a
clone of its by following the 4 stages. In this first
stage in order for the binary fission to take place we
need a parent amoeba. In the second stage the
nucleus of the parent amoeba divides. Before the cell
division takes place the DNA present inside the
nucleus replicates itself so that the daughter cell has
the same genes as the parent cell. This is also known
as mitosis. In this third stage the cytoplasm slowly
begins to divide. The cytoplasm is split I half between
both the cells. In the final stage both cells divide and
the amoeba has finally prepared a clone of itself by
aesexual reproduction.

Plants can clone themselves too. An example is the

spider plants. The side shoots or basically the side
part of the stem of a spider plant can have the
capability to grow a small plant which is basically the
clone of the main plant as it has the same genetic
material in its nucleus. This small plant can become
detached and grow by its own when it falls into the
soil by growing its own roots to collect water,
minerals and other significant stuff. After a while when
the plant will fully grow you will see that it will be an
exact copy of the previous plant as the genetic
material of both the plants are the same.

Animal cloning -
Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned.
She was born in the UK in 1996 and died in 2003. She
was produced using the nucleus from an udder cell,
although other cells such as skin cells may also be
used.
The method for adult cell cloning is:
1. the nucleus is removed from an unfertilised
egg cell
2. the nucleus from an adult body cell, such as a
skin cell, is inserted into the egg cell
3. an electric shock stimulates the egg cell to
divide to form an embryo
4. these embryo cells contain the same genetic
information as the adult skin cell
5. when the embryo has developed into a ball of
cells, it is inserted into the womb of an adult
female to continue its development
EVOLUTION by natural selection

Natural selection is a process by which random evolutionary

changes are selected for by nature in a consistent, orderly
and non random manner. Many new traits are observed in
nature through the process of descent with modification,
which basically is an observable fact that when parents have
children, those children often look and behave slightly
differently from their parents and themselves due to random
genetic mutations. Nature then carefully decides which of
those new traits will be beneficial for the future generations.
Those individuals of a species which have the
most suitable features to survive will continue to live and
breed and pass on their features. Individuals which have
features that do not equip them for survival will perish, and
so do not pass on their features to future generations. This
form of selection is used to explain the theory of evolution,
where one species that has the most suitable features
changes in time until another species is produced.