Genetics Vocab

The genetic makeup of an organism.  The information on genes that make up an organism.  Represented by letters.

Genetic information in an organism that is passed down from generation to generation. 

One allele cannot completely hide the other, causing a blending of traits in the offspring.

A tool scientists use to investigate the possible combinations of genetic crosses. 

The physical characteristics of an organism.  What an organism looks like due to its genes. 

The passing along of information from one generation to the next. 

Adaptations that are part of an organism's physical makeup. 

An organism that has two different alleles for the same gene.  Example: Hh

Offspring means: The descendants of a person, animal, or plant. 

Adaptations that cause an organism to act in a specific way. 

The location on the chromosome that contains the instructions for a particular trait. 

Different forms of a gene. 

The basic building block of DNA.  Made of a sugar molecule that is attached to a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base.

The complete set of genes of an organism. 

Receive traits from the previous generation. 

The parental generation in a breeding. 

An organism that has two identical alleles for a particular gene. Example: hh

Strands of genetic material inside the cell that contain information that codes for the traits of an organism. 

Changes to the genetic material of an organism. 

The allele whose expression is masked by the dominant allele. 

Adaptation

The first generation of offspring from a breeding. 

To breed two different varieties of plants to produce offspring with a mixture of traits. 

Changing the genes of organisms. 

The second generation of offspring from a breeding. 

Neither allele of a pair hides the other.  Both alleles are dominant to the same extent; no blending occurs. 

The differences in traits among individuals of a group. Eye color is the trait but the variations are the colors

The genetic material in a cell that stores and transmits genetic information from one generation to the next. 

A twisted ladder structure.  The structure of DNA.

The science of how characteristics are passed down from one generation to the next. 

The chance that something will happen. In genetics, the chance (percentage) that the offspring will have a certain trait

The allele that masks the expression of the recessive allele. 

The offspring of the cross between parents with different traits. 

Finding the location of every gene on a chromosome. 

A physical or behavioral characteristics of an individual that can be passed down to the next generation.