03/28/23

Variation, Inheritance and

Evolution
OCR module 10

W Richards

Worthing High School

 03/28/23
Variation
Variation means “differences within a species. For example,
consider some of the people in your class:

Ways in which they are the same Ways in which they are different
 03/28/23
Environmental differences
Some of this variation is due to our parents, but some of it is
due to our upbringing and the environment in which we live –
this is called “Environmental variation”.

Variation due to Variation due to Variation due to a

inheritance only environment only bit of both
 03/28/23
Where is this information stored?
Section of a chromosome:

Genes for Genes for

blood group: eye colour

Genes for
hair colour

Different species have different numbers

of chromosomes. Humans have 46 (23
pairs) in every cell.
 03/28/23
Sexual Reproduction
 03/28/23
Sexual Reproduction
The human egg and
sperm cell contain 23
chromosomes each.

When fertilisation happens the

gametes fuse together to make
a single cell (called a zygote).
The zygote has 46
chromosomes (23 pairs).
 03/28/23
Sexual vs. Asexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction:
•2 parents are needed
•Offspring will have “pairs” of chromosomes
•This will cause genetic variation

Asexual reproduction:
•Only 1 parent needed
•Offspring are genetically identical to parent (“clones”)
 03/28/23
Mitosis

Each daughter cell has

the same number of
chromosomes and genetic
information as the parent.
 03/28/23
Meiosis

Each daughter cell has half

the number of chromosomes
of the parent.
 03/28/23
Mitosis vs. Meiosis
Mitosis:
Meiosis:
1. Used for growth and repair of
1. Used to produce gametes for
cells
sexual reproduction
2. Used in asexual reproduction
2. Each daughter cell has half the
3. Cells with identical number of number of chromosomes of the
chromosomes and genetic parent
information are produced
 03/28/23
Genes, Chromosomes and DNA
 03/28/23
How genes work

Some facts:
- Made up of paired bases
- Contain instructions on what a cell does, how the organism
should work etc
- The instructions are in the form of a code
- The code is made up from the four bases that hold the
strands together
- The bases represent the order in which amino acids are
assembled to make proteins
- Each group of 3 bases represents one amino acid
- There are only about 20 amino acids
 03/28/23
Mutations
Mutations are changes in the structure of the DNA molecule. They can be
passed on to daughter cells through cell division. They will result in the
wrong proteins being produced.

Mutations can be caused by:

- Ionising radiation (UV, X-rays etc)
- Radioactive substances
- Certain chemicals

Effects:
- Mostly harmful
- Causes death or abnormality in reproductive cells
- Causes cancer in body cells
- Some CAN be neutral or even beneficial (e.g. the peppered moth)
 03/28/23
Key words
Gamete
•This allele determines the development of a
Zygote characteristic

•This is formed when an egg is fertilised by a sperm

Allele •This allele will determine a characteristic only if

there are no dominant ones

Dominant •This word refers to a pair of chromosomes being

made of two different alleles of a gene

Recessive •An egg or a sperm are called this

•This word refers to a pair of chromosomes being

Homozygous made of two of the same alleles of a gene

•An alternative form of a gene

Heterozygous
 03/28/23
Eye colour
In eye colour the brown eye allele is dominant, so we call it
B, and the blue eye is recessive, so we call it b:

BB Bb bb

Homozygous Heterozygous Blue-eyed parent

brown-eyed brown-eyed
parent parent

What would the offspring have?


Eye colour
Example 1: A homozygous
brown-eyed parent and a
blue-eyed parent:
03/28/23
Example 2: 2 heterozygous
brown-eyed parents

Parents: BB X bb Bb X Bb

Gametes: B B b b B b B b

(FOIL)

Offspring: Bb Bb Bb Bb BB Bb bB bb

All offspring have brown eyes 25% chance of blue eyes

 03/28/23
Eye colour
Example 3: A heterozygous brown-eyed
father and a blue-eyed mother:

Bb bb
Equal (50%)
chance of
being either
B b b b brown eyed or
blue eyed.

Bb Bb bb bb
 03/28/23
Another method
Example 3: A heterozygous brown-eyed
father and a blue-eyed mother:

Father

Mother B b
b Bb bb
b Bb bb
 03/28/23
Example questions
1) In mice, white fur is dominant. What type of offspring
would you expect from a cross between a heterozygous
individual and one with grey fur? Explain your answer with
a genetic diagram.

2) A homozygous long-tailed cat is crossed with a

homozygous short-tailed cat and produces a litter of 9
long-tailed kittens. Show the probable offspring which
would be produced if two of these kittens were mated and
describe the characteristics of the offspring (hint: work
out the kitten’s genotype first).
 03/28/23
Inherited diseases
1) Cystic fibrosis – a disease that causes thick and sticky mucus to coat
the lungs, gut and pancreas. It’s caused by recessive alleles:

Ff X Ff

2) Huntingdon's disease – a disease of the nervous system that causes

shaking and eventually dementia. It’s caused by a dominant allele:

Cc X cc

3) Sickle cell anaemia – a disease that alters the shape of red blood cells,
thereby reducing their oxygen capacity, causing weakness and anaemia.
It’s caused by recessive alleles:

Ss X Ss
 03/28/23
Boy or Girl?

X Y X

“Allele”

XX XY
Girl Boy
 03/28/23

Mother Boy or Girl?

Son

Daughter
Father
 03/28/23
Clones
Plants can reproduce ASEXUALLY. The offspring are
genetically ________ to the parent plant and are called
_________. Two examples:

1) This spider plant has grown a rooting

side branch (“stolon”) which will
eventually become __________.

2) A gardener has taken cuttings of

this plant (which probably has good
characteristics) and is growing them
in a ____ atmosphere until the
____ develop.
Words – clones, damp, independent, roots, identical
 03/28/23
Cloning
1) Cloning plants:

2) Cloning sheep:
 03/28/23
Selective breeding
I raise cows. Each type of
cow is good at a certain job.
The Friesian cow produces
large quantities of milk, the
Jersey cow produces very Friesian
nice milk and the Hereford
cow produces lot of beef.

Jersey

If, for example, I want lots

of milk I would only breed
Friesian cows with each
other – this is SELECTIVE
BREEDING.
Hereford
 03/28/23
Selective breeding vs. Cloning
Advantages Disadvantages

Cloning

Selective
breeding
 03/28/23
Selective breeding vs. Cloning
Advantages Disadvantages
1) Allows large 1) Causes reduced
numbers of numbers of alleles
organisms with good 2) Loss of variation
Cloning characteristics to could harm survival
be produced chances if the
2) Very efficient environment changes

1) Produced organisms 1) Causes reduced

with favoured numbers of alleles
Selective characteristics 2) Loss of variation
2) Very efficient and could harm survival
breeding economically viable chances if the
environment changes
 03/28/23
Genetic Modification
Possible uses of genetic modification of organisms:

-Improving crop yield

-Improving resistance to pesticides
-Extend shelf-life
-Manufacture a certain chemical (e.g. insulin)
-Convenience
 03/28/23
Genetic engineering

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to help control

blood sugar levels. Diabetics can’t produce enough insulin and
often need to inject it.

Insulin can be made by genetic engineering:

 03/28/23
Genetic engineering - Insulin
Step 1: Using RESTRICTION
ENZYMES “cut out” the part of
the human chromosome that is
responsible for producing insulin.

Step 2: Using another restriction

enzyme cut open a ring of bacterial
DNA (a “plasmid”). Other enzymes
are then used to insert the piece of
human DNA into the plasmid.

Step 3: Place the plasmid into a bacterium

which will start to divide rapidly. As it
divides it will replicate the plasmid and
make millions of them, each with the
instruction to produce insulin. Commercial
quantities of insulin can then be produced.
 03/28/23
Evolution

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

 03/28/23
Evolution
Evolution is the slow, continual change of
organisms over a very long time. All
living things on the Earth have
developed from the first simple life
forms that arrived 3,000,000,000 years
ago.
One of the effects of evolution is that species will become
better adapted to their environment. If these species
don’t adapt they may become extinct due to being unable to
deal with any of these factors…
1) Increased competition
2) Changes in the environment
3) New diseases
4) New predators
 03/28/23
Evolution
My key observations:
1) All living things produce more
offspring than survive to adulthood
2) In spite of this, population sizes
remain roughly constant
3) Variation exists among species
4) Characteristics can be passed on
from one generation to the next.

These observations led me to the

conclusion that species evolve over a
along period of time by a mechanism
called “Natural Selection”. The main
evidence for this is from fossil
records.
 03/28/23
Natural Selection
1) Each species shows variation:

2) There is competition within each

Get off species for food, living space,
my land water, mates etc

3) The “better adapted” members of Gutted!

these species are more likely to
survive – “Survival of the Fittest” Yum

4) These survivors will pass on their

better genes to their offspring who
will also show this beneficial variation.
 03/28/23
A smaller example…
Consider the four steps of natural selection in the example of
some bacteria that has become resistant to penicillin:

1) Variation – some strains of bacteria

Bacteria are resistant and some aren’t.
2) Competition – The non-resistant
bacteria are killed by the penicillin.
3) Survival of the fittest – the
resistant bacteria survive.
4) Passing on of genes – the resistant
bacteria reproduce and pass on
Penicillin their adaptations to their
offspring.