Download Introduction to Genetics

BIOL276: Genetics and Evolutionary Biology
Dr. Young
 Contact Info
 Office: 411-17
 Phone: 714-992-7434
 Electronic
 e-mail: [email protected]
 Homepage:
 http://staffwww.fullcoll.edu/cyoung
Why study genetics?
 Many reasons are obvious
 Genetics is the study of inheritance
 Genetics plays a big role in determining who we are and what we look like
 Genetic research provides us with a unique perspective on life - tying together
the past with the present and the future
History of genetic research
 Gregor Mendel developed some incredible genetic insights at a time when
genetics was essentially a black box
 His results and conclusions were eventually explained with the chromosome
theory of inheritance
 Traits can be determined by genes
 Genes are located on chromosomes
 The location of genes can be mapped
 We learned the structure of DNA
 We learned how the genetic information encoded in DNA determined the
sequence of amino acids in proteins
 We learned how some changes in the amino acid sequence can have profound
effects on the function of the protein and how these dictate phenotypes
Our understanding of natural mechanisms ushered in the era of recombinant DNA
technology
The biotech industry uses genetics to produce valuable substances
Biotechnological advances have given us transgenic organisms and cloned
organisms
Further advances have opened the door to a better understanding of genetic
disorders
Genetics has allowed us to look more closely at ourselves
Genetics Tomorrow
 The possibility of personalized genetic medicine
 Forensic identification
Much of genetic research is dependent upon the evolutionary relatedness of all life