CHAPTER 2: (GENETICS)

Heredity, Inheritance and Variation

 LOCATION OF GENES IN
CHROMOSOMES
GOALS:
This section aims to:
• Describe the location of genes.
• Explain how genes are responsible
for specific traits
• Identify the parts of a DNA.
• Did you know that the way people
fold their hands is a characteristic
they received from their parents? Try
folding your hands in front of you.
Which thumb is on top? Try to fold
your hands in the other way. Does it
feel strange? What other such
characteristics did you know?
• What traits have been passed on to
you and your siblings? From which
parent did you get your looks? What
was passed to you by your mother?
By your father? What about your
 GENE

• GENE is the basic physical and

functional unit of heredity.
Heredity is the natural process by
which physical and mental
qualities are passed from parent
to offspring. Gene is made up of
DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid). The
DNA is like a code that stores
information for the cells.
• The genes vary in size from a few hundred
DNA bases to more than two million bases. The
Human Genome Project has estimated that
humans have between 20 000 to 25 000 genes.
 LOCATION OF GENES
• The location of a gene in a chromosome plays a very
important role on how an organism’s trait evolve and
vary. Genome Biologists in New York University’s
Center for Genomic and Systems Biology and
Princeton University suggested that the evolution is
more of where the genes are located that affect the
trait and less of the physical trait. The genes located
near the ends are more likely to contribute to genetic
variations, the middle genes contribute less in the
genetic variations.
• A human has two copies of each gene, one
from the father and one from th e mother.
Most people have the same genes. A small
portion (less than 1%) are slightly different
which contribute to each person's slightly
unique physical features. These are called
alleles or same genes with small
differences in their sequence of DNA bases.
• Each Chromosome contains many genes In the nucleus of
each cell, the DNA molecules are packed into thread-like
structures called chromosomes They are made up of DNA
tightly coiled many times around histones that support its
Chromosomes are not visible in the cell's even under the
microscope when the cell is not dividing.
The DNA that makes up the
chromosomes become more tightly
packed during cell divisions. It is
then that chromosomes are visible
under the microscope.
• The chromosome is divided into two sections or
arms by a constriction called centromere. The
short arm is labeled “p-arm” and the longer one
is the "q-arm” The location of the centromere in
each chromosome gives its characteristic shape,
which is Useful to help describe the location of
the specific gene.
• We, as offsprings of our parents, inherits some if their specific traits
through natural process called heredity. Since we get half the of
chromosomes from each of our parents, we became combination of
them two but also with a little bit of difference like physical features
because of Alleles that contributes some small differences in the
structure and sequence of our unique DNA. That’s why DNA Tests
nowadays is undeniably the most accurate test to take if you want to
determine who your parents are, as we always see it portrayed in
local tv series and some documentaries like KMJS (Kapuso Mo Jessica
Sojo). We are unique individuals, that’s why even identical twins
have different fingerprints too.