The passing of traits from parents to offspring.

A segment of DNA on a chromosome that codes for a specific trait.

An alternative form of a gene.

A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA, protein, and RNA found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequence.

Term used to refer to an organism that has two identical alleles for a particular trait.

Term used to refer to an organism that has two different alleles for a particular trait.

A characteristic that an organism can pass on to its offspring through its genes.

Describes a trait that covers over, or dominates, another form of that trait.

Describes a trait that is covered over, or dominated, by another form of that trait and seems to disappear.

An organism's genetic makeup, or allele combinations.

An organism's physical appearance, or visible traits.

A diagram that shows the occurrence of a genetic trait in several generations of a family.

A chart that shows all the possible combinations of alleles that can result from a genetic cross.

Demonstrated by the difference in appearance that offspring show from parents and siblings.

A nucleic acid found in the nucleus of all living cells, which carries the organism's hereditary information.

A measure of the likelihood of an event. It is the ratio of the number of ways a certain event can occur to the number of possible outcomes. A possibility of genetic combinations for the next generation from test crosses.

Scientific study of heredity

Cell's division (PMAT) of the nucleus. Final product is 2 cells that are exactly like the parent cell.

Cell division that produces reproductive cells (sperm & egg) in sexually reproducing organisms.

The pair of chromosomes (X & Y) responsible for determining the sex of an individual.

A gene located on the X chromosome in males (XY) that causes a specific characteristic (example: colorblindness), the gene has a back up in females (XX) in case it is damaged.

A technology that includes the process of manipulating or altering the genetic material of a cell resulting in desirable functions or outcomes that would not occur naturally.

Method of breeding that allows only those individual organisms with desired characteristics to produce the next generation.

Chromosomes that have the same sequence of genes and the same structure.

The process by which physical and biological characteristics are transmitted from the parent (or parents) to the offspring

A statement of how two numbers compare. It is a comparison of the size of one number to the size of another number.

Cells involved in sexual reproduction; sperm and egg cells

In heterozygotes both traits are expressed, for example breeding a white bear with a black bear results in offspring that have both black and white patches together.

A pattern of inheritance in which the alleles inherited from the parents, are neither dominant nor recessive. The resulting offspring have a phenotype that is a blending of the parental traits. For example a red flower bred with a white flower will produce pink flowers.

In a heterozygous genotype the dominant allele completely masks the effect of the recessive allele in the organism's phenotype.