Download Genetics Vocabulary Week 3

Genetics Unit Vocabulary Part Three
Selective Breeding – humans choosing the parent organisms with desirable traits and allowing to
breed or pollinate trying to produce desirable traits in offspring (Ex: a farmer pollinating a big
strawberry and sweet strawberry to produce a big sweet strawberry)
Chromosome – a threadlike structure of nucleic acids and protein found in the nucleus of most
living cells, carrying genetic information in the form of genes.
Sexual Reproduction - Two parents producing offspring with variety in their genetics. Buzz
words are two, variety, different, meiosis (Ex: A tall pea plant cross pollinating with a short pea
plant)
Meiosis – the process that produces sex cells (sperm and egg) by which the number of
chromosomes is reduced in HALF; four daughter cells are created each having half of the
number of chromosomes (Ex: Humans have 46 chromosomes. An egg cell only has 23
chromosomes.)
Asexual Reproduction – one parent producing offspring identical to parent and to other
offspring. Buzz words are one, identical, fission, regenerate, mitosis (Example: bacteria – binary
fission; fungi (yeast) – budding
Mitosis – the stage of the cell cycle when a cell’s chromosomes are copied exactly and the exact
number is placed into two daughter cells (Ex: Body Cells – hair, skin, etc…)
Karyotype - the chromosomes of a cell, usually displayed as a systematized arrangement of
chromosome pairs in descending order of size (a picture of chromosomes)
Mutation - a change in a gene or chromosome
Genetic Disorder – an abnormal condition that a person inherits through genes or chromosomes
Natural Selection -the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to
adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for
food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind,
thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations