The mating of two organisms to analyze the inheritance of specific traits.
Cross
A trait that is beneficial to an organism and will likely be chosen by natural selection
Favorable Trait
A tool used to analyze the possible allele combinations of the offspring between two individuals
Punnett Square
The physical expression of a gene or set of genes; the appearance of an organism
Phenotype
A diagram that shows how traits are passed through multiple generations
Pedigree
A characteristic that is passed from parent to offspring
Inherited Trait
Practical uses of genetic knowledge, such as in agriculture, medicine, and conservation efforts.
Applications of Genetics
The basic physical and functional unit of heredity made up of DNA
Gene
Different forms of a gene that can exist at a specific location on a chromosome.
Allele
A form of artificial selection where humans deliberately breed plants and animals for desired traits
Selective Breeding
Process by which organisms with favorable traits produce more successful offspring than organisms with less-favorable traits, causing the favorable traits to become more common in the population
Natural Selection
The direct manipulation of genetic material to alter the hereditary traits of a cell, organism, or population
Genetic Engineering
The study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics.
Genetics
The measure of the likelihood that a particular event will occur, often expressed as a fraction or percentage.
Probability
A characteristic of an organism; can be genetic or acquired
Trait
An organism that has two different alleles for a particular gene
Heterozygous
A trait that masks the effect of a recessive trait when both are present; it is expressed in the phenotype.
Dominant Trait
A trait that is masked by a dominant trait and is only expressed in the phenotype when two copies are present.
Recessive Trait
The exact genetic information carried by an individual
Genotype
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