Basics 3 min read
Multiple Alleles
Mendel implied that only two alleles, one dominant and one recessive, could exist for a given gene. We now know…
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Basics 3 min read
Extensions of the Laws of Inheritance
Mendel studied traits with only one mode of inheritance in pea plants. The inheritance of the traits he studied all…
Basics 9 min read
Law of Independent Assortment
Mendel’s law of independent assortment states that genes do not influence each other with regard to the sorting of alleles into…
Basics 3 min read
Law of Segregation
Observing that true-breeding pea plants with contrasting traits gave rise to F1 generations that all expressed the dominant trait and F2 generations…
Basics 3 min read
Monohybrid Cross and the Punnett Square
When fertilization occurs between two true-breeding parents that differ by only the characteristic being studied, the process is called a…
Basics 2 min read
Law of Dominance
Our discussion of homozygous and heterozygous organisms brings us to why the F1 heterozygous offspring were identical to one of the…
Basics 4 min read
Laws of Inheritance
The seven characteristics that Mendel evaluated in his pea plants were each expressed as one of two versions, or traits.…
Basics 8 min read
Introduction to Patterns of Inheritance
Figure 8.1 Experimenting with thousands of garden peas, Mendel uncovered the fundamentals of genetics. (credit: modification of work by Jerry…
Basics 4 min read
Chromosome Structural Rearrangements
Cytologists have characterized numerous structural rearrangements in chromosomes, including partial duplications, deletions, inversions, and translocations. Duplications and deletions often produce…
Basics 7 min read
Errors in Meiosis
Inherited disorders can arise when chromosomes behave abnormally during meiosis. Chromosome disorders can be divided into two categories: abnormalities in…
Basics 4 min read
Comparing Meiosis and Mitosis
Mitosis and meiosis, which are both forms of division of the nucleus in eukaryotic cells, share some similarities, but also…