Overview of Class - November 29 2011

Today in class we reviewed meiosis and how the big picture of meiosis is that is makes sex cells. We also went over the differences and similarities between mitosis and meiosis. Then we went over punnett squares. We went over the different terminology for genes. Below are the terms and the definitions that we went over:

Allele: Form of a gene represented by a single letter -(a, A, C, f, g)

Homozygous: Homo The result od means the same and zygous refers to the zygote and its genes. Homozygous has two like genes that for a given trait. For example AA, cc.

Heterozygous: Hetero means different. A heterozygote has two different gene forms for a given trait. For example Aa, Cc.

Phenotype: The result of a genotype in regards to a function or appearance. Hair color is a phenotype. Being lactose intolerant is also a phenotype. You see, you can't always visualize all of the phenotypes.

Genotype: Genes that give a phenotype. The combination of alleles. For instance Aa, Bb.

Dominant gene: The gene that shows up in the heterozygous condition. The dominant gene in a punnett square would be the capital letter i.e. D.

Recessive gene: A gene that will give a phenotype only when in a homozygous condition. The recessive gene is a punnett square is the lowercase letter i.e. dd, gg.

For more information on punnett squares, please refer to this site:

http://anthro.palomar.edu/mendel/mendel_2.htm

The next scribe will be...Ereni!