Unit 6 Lesson 4: BioFlexBook Questions
(1) Who was Gregor Mendel and what is his historical role in biology (specifically genetics)?
Gregor Mendel is a scientist who is often called the, "father of genetics" because he formed the basis of genetics. He was born in 1822 and grew up on a farm owned by his parents in Austria. Gregor Mendels historical role in biology was researching about pea plants.
(2) Discuss Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment.
The law of segregation states that there are two factor that control a characteristic that is given to them, one of which dominates the other, these factors then separate and goes to gametes when a parent reproduces. The law of independent assortment states that factors control many different characteristics that are inherited independently of each other.
(3) Explain how the events of meiosis I account for the observations that led Mendel to formulate these laws.
During meiosis, homologous chromosomes separate and go to different gametes. In Mendel's laws, the two alleles for each gene goes to other gametes. While this separation occurs, there is a process known as, crossing over, which is when chromosomes combine and match their genes to make a random assortment which then goes to other gametes. This relates to Mendel's laws very well mostly because it backs up both, the first and second law.
(4) How do we know that an organism expressing a dominant trait is homozygous or heterozygous?
Homozygous means the alleles are exactly the same and heterozygous is when they are different. There is no way to tell exactly whethere it is expressing a dominant trait. But we can use a Punnett square to figure out probability.
(5) As a genetic counselor, you are asked to assess the risk for a couple with a family history of retinoblastoma who are thinking about having children. Both the husband and wife are phenotypically normal, but the husband has a sister with familial retinoblastoma in both eyes. What is the probability that this couple will have a child with retinoblastoma?
If the husband and wife were to have a baby in one Punnett square the baby would have a 0% chance of getting it, but in the other the Punnett square lines up and the baby has a 25% chance of getting it.
Gregor Mendel is a scientist who is often called the, "father of genetics" because he formed the basis of genetics. He was born in 1822 and grew up on a farm owned by his parents in Austria. Gregor Mendels historical role in biology was researching about pea plants.
(2) Discuss Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment.
The law of segregation states that there are two factor that control a characteristic that is given to them, one of which dominates the other, these factors then separate and goes to gametes when a parent reproduces. The law of independent assortment states that factors control many different characteristics that are inherited independently of each other.
(3) Explain how the events of meiosis I account for the observations that led Mendel to formulate these laws.
During meiosis, homologous chromosomes separate and go to different gametes. In Mendel's laws, the two alleles for each gene goes to other gametes. While this separation occurs, there is a process known as, crossing over, which is when chromosomes combine and match their genes to make a random assortment which then goes to other gametes. This relates to Mendel's laws very well mostly because it backs up both, the first and second law.
(4) How do we know that an organism expressing a dominant trait is homozygous or heterozygous?
Homozygous means the alleles are exactly the same and heterozygous is when they are different. There is no way to tell exactly whethere it is expressing a dominant trait. But we can use a Punnett square to figure out probability.
(5) As a genetic counselor, you are asked to assess the risk for a couple with a family history of retinoblastoma who are thinking about having children. Both the husband and wife are phenotypically normal, but the husband has a sister with familial retinoblastoma in both eyes. What is the probability that this couple will have a child with retinoblastoma?
If the husband and wife were to have a baby in one Punnett square the baby would have a 0% chance of getting it, but in the other the Punnett square lines up and the baby has a 25% chance of getting it.