Heredity

Outline
• What are genes?
• Gregor Mendel
• Where can we find our genes?
• What do our genes do?
• Our Genes
• Genetic Trait Tree
• Where do we get our genes from?
• Inheritance
• Predicting Inheritance
• Modern uses of DNA technology
 What are genes?
• Heredity: the passing of genes
from parents to offspring
(children)

• Gene: a specific part of DNA

that controls a hereditary trait

• Hereditary traits: characteristics

that can be passed from parents
to their offspring
• CELL: Basic unit of all living matter (Adult = over 10 trillion
cells)
CYTOPLASM: Substance of a cell outside of 
the nucleus
NUCLEUS: Central point of 
cell / contains genetic coding for 
maintaining life systems and 
issuing commands for growth & 
reproduction
CHROMOSOMES: 
46 in each Nucleus (23 pairs)
GENES: bands on 
chromosomes (thousands of genes) 
DNA on genes (billions of 
DNA)
 CELL DIVISION
• MITOSIS: Cell divides by copying the DNA -
cell splits - new cell with normal number of
chromosomes (Cell growth & repair)

• MEIOSIS: Creates 1/2 sets of chromosomes

– Women = 23 Men = 23 Combined = 46
• Female Sex Cells XX (Ovum or
Egg)

• Male Sex Cells XY (Sperm)

• Baby Girl = XX Baby Boy = XY

– Conception is the union of an OVUM and the SPERM

• Gender is determined by the father!

• DOMINATE Gene: More powerful - trait seen in person
• RECESSIVE Gene: Weaker and hides in the
background. Trait can only determine when two of them are
present - may show up in future generations.
• CARRIER: Has a recessive gene that is not visible
• SEX-LINKED: Mother passes the recessive X to son
– Color-blind male receives the trait from his mother.
– The mother is usually not color-blind herself.

• B = BROWN eyes (dominate) b = BLUE eyes (recessive)

• BB = BROWN eyes
• bb = BLUE eyes
• Bb = BROWN eyes but carry the recessive BLUE eye gene
 MULTIPLE BIRTHS
• ZYGOT: the cell that is formed when a sperm fertilized
an egg (ovum)
• MONOZYGOT: Identical Twins 1 Egg + 1 Sperm
– Fertilized ovum splits into 2 identical cells - Always the same gender

• DIZYGOT: Fraternal Twins 2 Eggs + different Sperm

– Will look different - May be different or the same gender
• MULTIPLE BIRTHS: More than 2
– May be identical, fraternal or both - May be different or the same
gender
• CONJOINED (Siamese) TWINS: Ovum splits apart, but the
separation is not completed. Babies are joined at some part of their
bodies.
 What 4 FACTORS may contribute to
Multiple Births?
• 1) History in the family
• 2) Increased hormones naturally
– More than 1 egg released

• 3) Fertility Drugs
– More than 1 egg released

• 4) Age 32-36
• Likelihood of multiple pregnancies in the United States
– Twins: Blacks- 1 in 73 Whites 1 in 93
– Triplets: 1 in 10,000
– Quadruples: 1 in 620,000
• Sex - Linked or X - Linked Defect: When an X-
gene from the mother is faulty. There is a 50/50 chance of the
child inheriting the disorder.
• Syndrome: When a group of signs and symptoms occur
together and characterize a particular problem.
• Congenital Malformation: A condition that is present at
birth.
• Multi-factorial Defects: Interaction of genes with other
genes OR with environmental factors.
• Chromosomal Error: The fertilized egg cell that contains
chromosomes in an abnormal number, structure or arrangement.
 Inherited vs. Acquired
Characteristics

• Inherited characteristics: characteristics

that are controlled by genes/DNA passed
from parents to their offspring

– Examples -> height, natural hair color, eye

color
 Inherited vs. Acquired
Characteristics

• Acquired characteristics: characteristics

that can be developed or altered during a
person’s lifetime

– Examples -> tattoo, learning to play a sport,

learning to play a musical instrument
 Gregor Mendel
• Austrian monk
• Considered to be the
father of modern
Genetics
• Used pea plants to
demonstrate how
certain characteristics
were passed through
generations
– Seed shape, seed color,
flower color, pod shape,
pod color, and stem
height
Mendel’s Work
 Where can we find our genes?
• We have 1000’s of genes and each one is
found at a specific location on a specific
chromosome
– What does that mean?
• All genes are found in specific places

• Everyone has different combinations of

traits, but…
– The genes for those traits are found on the
same parts of chromosomes in everyone
What do our genes do?
• Genes determine the traits
that we have
– We are most familiar with
physical traits
– So basically our genes
determine what we look like
• Physical traits are
observable characteristics
– Things that we can see
– examples: hair color, eye
color, tongue rolling, ear
lobes, hairline
 Genetic Trait Tree
• We are going to be
creating a Genetic Trait
Tree to examine certain
characteristics (traits)
within our class
• For this activity we will
be examining 3 traits
– Free or attached ear
lobes
– Widow’s peak
– Tongue rolling
 Our Genes
• How many genes do
humans have?
– http://web.ornl.gov/sci/te
chresources/Human_Ge
nome/posters/chromoso
me/
 Our Genes
• We have 2 copies of each
gene (1 from each parent)
• Each gene has 2 or more
variations for what we see
– We can inherit the same or
different variations
– examples:
• Hair color – brown, black, red,
blonde
• Tongue rolling – can do it,
can’t do it
Where do we get our genes from?
• ½ comes from mother
– 23 single chromosomes
in the egg cell
• ½ comes from father
– 23 single chromosomes
in sperm cell
Where do we get our genes from?
• When the sperm and
egg cells combine they
form 1 cell with 46
single chromosomes (23
pairs).
– All humans have started
as 1 cell just like that
 Inheritance
• The characteristics seen in us depend on 2
things.
1. the combination of genes we get from our parents
2. how those genes interact with each other

• The different variations of genes are called

alleles
• 2 basic alleles (gene variations)
– Dominant: the trait/characteristic that is always seen if it
is present
– Recessive: the trait/characteristic that is only seen when
the dominant variation is not present
Dominant and Recessive Traits
• Example of dominant and
recessive alleles
– A person can have a widow’s
peak (dominant) or a
straight hairline (recessive)
– 2 dominant alleles = a
person with a widow’s peak
– 1 dominant and 1 recessive
allele = a person with a
widow’s peak
– 2 recessive alleles = a
person with a straight
hairline
 Inheritance Terms
• Homozygous Dominant: 2 dominant genes

• Homozygous Recessive: 2 recessive

genes

• Heterozygous: 1 dominant and 1

recessive gene
 Predicting Inheritance
• Punnett Square: a tool to
predict the
characteristics a child
can inherit from its
parents
– Use the alleles each parent
has to determine the
possible gene combinations
that can be passed to
offspring
– Capital letters = dominant
W = dominant allele
– Lowercase letters =
w = recessive
recessive allele
 Punnett Square Example
• Example using hairline
– Mother has the following
combination – Ww MOTHER
– Father has the following W w
combination – ww
– They each pass 1 gene
variation (letter) to their F w Ww ww
offspring A
T
• Draw a Punnett Square H
E
• Label sides R
w
Ww ww
• Add parent variations
• Fill in the square
 Punnett Square Example
• What does this show us?
– Dominant = widow’s peak MOTHER
– Recessive = straight
hairline W w

– Genotype: genetic makeup

F Ww
• 2 of 4 children have Ww w ww
A
and 2 have ww T
– Phenotype: physical H
E
appearance R
w
Ww ww
• 50% chance of having a
child with a widow’s peak
• 50% chance of having a
child with straight hairline
Modern uses of DNA Technology
• Selective Breeding
– Breeding plants or animals for specific traits (making
them look the way we want)
– Has been used to create all of the different breeds
of dogs that we currently have
• Bred to make them better hunters, or nicer temper, or
better for protection
Modern uses of DNA Technology
• Forensic Science
– DNA Fingerprinting: identifying people based
on their DNA
– What shows on TV have you seen that use
this?
Forensic Science Pictures
Forensic Science Pictures
Modern uses of DNA Technology
• Genetic engineering
– Changing the DNA of an organism to alter it in
some way
– Has been used to alter plants and vegetables
• Grow bigger, faster, in tougher conditions, and
resistant to insects
Modern uses of DNA Technology

• Gene Therapy
– A type of genetic engineering in which
damaged genes are replaced by normal genes
Genetic Engineering Movies
Modern Uses of DNA Technology
• Cloning
– Creating an exact copy of an existing
organism
– Dolly (a sheep) was the first cloned animal
to survive the process
• Happened in 1997
– How is it done?
– There are problems with it though
Cloning
Cloning Movies
Cloning Movies
Cloning Movies