Genetics and DNA:

The Science of Heredity

What makes this baby

different?

Rosalind Franklin and the first

photo of DNA

Watson and Crick and their DNA

discoveries

What is DNA?

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid and it is the

hereditary material of all living things. It is found
in the nucleus and mitochondria of the cells.
The Human DNA contains more or less 3 million
bases being approximately 99% the same for all
the people.
The information of DNA is coded in four bases A
(adenine), T (thymine), G (guanine), C (cytosine)
The structure is a double helix and it contains a
sugar (deoxyribose) phosphate backbone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ POdWsii7AI

Red or White Dilemma

DNA is present in White blood cells rather

than in red blood cells which lack a nuclei.
Red blood cells are disposable cells.

Did you know?

If you took all the DNA from the cells in the

average adult human body and stretched it
out, it would reach to the sun and back
multiple times!

Tying knots
How are genes, chromosomes and DNA
related?
The chromosomes carries the genes on a
spaghetti type structure .
The genes carries the genetic information
that will determine the human traits
The chromosomes and the genes are made
up of DNA.

Order of the nitrogen

bases

A - T
Adenine (Ad uh neen)
Thymine (Thy meen)

C - G
Cytosine (Sy tuh seen)
Guanine (Gwah neen)

How does DNA copies

itself?
During the first stage of the cell cycle called the
Interphase, the cell starts to prepare for division
by having its DNA:
1. unwinding
2. unzipping
3. separating
4.pairing with a new strand of DNA
5. zipping
6. winding up again forming two new DNA
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qSrmeiWsuc

Heredity
During the nineteenth century,
Gregory Mendel conducted
experiments crossing pea plants and
discovered that the offspring had
different traits. Mendels
experiments were the base for
genetics.
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt1R
FnWNzk
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mehz7tC
xjSE

Pea Plants Crossing- The Great

Dilemma

P ( parental )

Results

F1 ( Filial
generation 1 )

Results (cont.)

F2 ( Filial generation 2 )

Purebred, Fertilization, F1 and F2

offspring Mendels Experiments

filia & filius = daughter & son in Latin

Purebred - denoting a pure strain obtained

through many generations of controlled breeding
for desirable traits (Collin English Dictionary)
P Parental generation
F1 first filial generation
F2- second filial generation
Allele - An allele is a variant
form of a gene ( they will code
for a specific trait Ex. Color of hair)

Cont.
Dominant trait- Traits that domain
Recessive traits- traits that organisms carry
but will skip generations and show up in
another generation

How do alleles affect

inheritance?

What is heredity?

Mendel showed that offspring traits are

determined by individual, separate alleles
inherited from each parent.

Reflection:
On your notebook:
Write 5 traits inherited from both of your parents.
Write 3 traits that in a future you could inherit to
your children.

Symbols for alleles

Alleles are going to be dominant or

recessive.(They will be represented with
capital letters for dominant traits or lower
case letters for recessive traits. )

Ex.

Remember
Alleles code from both parents. So you have a
set of alleles coding for each trait.

So lets see the example with

the peas.

TT

T t

Cont.

tt

Confused?

Lets Recap

A dominant trait prevails

Your traits are inherited by both of your

parents . So you code for both alleles.

Cont.

A recessive trait is there but it skips

generations ( sometimes its called a
dormant trait).

Cont.

In order to understand how do allele works,

we express them using letters. Capital
letters for dominant alleles and lower case
letters for recessive alleles, coding for both
parents .
50 %

50 %

How are each set of combinations

of alleles called? ( Genotype)
AA Homozygous Dominant
Aa Heterozygous
aa- Homozygous recessive

(PS. The letters used dont mind as long as they are the same one and they
are letters that you can distinguish the capital one from the lower case one)

What is the importance of

knowing the allelic combinations?
To be able to distinguish between:
Genotype- Individual collection of genes. It
is the genetic makeup. They are the alleles
(When working the Punnett Square, they are
the combinations of letters)

Phenotype- They are the observable traits.

Punnett Square and Probability

of offprings

Cont.

Cont.

Cont.

Practice:

The Baratheon Mystery

Solve:

One Cat carries heterozygous , long- haired traits (Ss), and

its mate carries homozygous short short-haired trait (ss).
Use a Punnett square to determine the probability of one of
their offspring having long hair.

One cat carries heterozygous, long-haired traits (Ss), and

its mate carries homozygous short-haired traits (ss) . Use a
Use a Punnett square to determine the probability of one of
their offspring having short hair.

Solve