Mendel's Experiments and Heredity
Genetics is the study of heredity. Johann Gregor Mendel set the framework for genetics long before chromosomes or genes had been identified, at a time when meiosis was not well understood. Mendel selected a simple biological system and conducted methodical, quantitative analyses using large sample sizes. Because of Mendel’s work, the fundamental principles of heredity were revealed. We now know that genes, carried on chromosomes, are the basic functional units of heredity with the capability to be replicated, expressed, or mutated. Today, the postulates put forth by Mendel form the basis of classical, or Mendelian, genetics. This pathway provides an in-depth look at Mendel’s experiments & the laws of probability; characteristics & traits; and the laws of inheritance. The pathway also provides vocabulary support for these topics, as well as opportunities for learners to self-assess their understanding by analyzing figures and answering questions.
Topics
- allele
- autosomes
- blending theory of inheritance
- codominance
- continuous variation
- dihybrid
- discontinuous variation
- dominant
- dominant lethal
- epistasis
- F1
- F2
- genotype
- hemizygous
- heterozygous
- homozygous
- hybridization
- incomplete dominance
- law of dominance
- law of independent assortment
- law of segregation
- linkage
- model system
- monohybrid
- P0
- phenotype
- product rule
- Punnett square
- recessive
- recessive lethal
- reciprocal cross
- sex-linked
- sum rule
- test cross
- trait
- X-linked