Download Vocabulary Terms Natural Selection and Modern Genetics

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Vocabulary Terms
Natural Selection and Modern Genetics
1. species: A group of similar organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring.
2. population: Members of the same species that live in the same geographical area.
3. gene pool: The total number of genes of every individual in an interbreeding population.
4. variation: Any difference among organisms of the same species.
5. mutations: Random changes in the genetic code; may be helpful or harmful.
6. adaptation: A genetic variation that provides an organism with an advantage to survive and
reproduce in its environment.
7. natural selection: Process by which individuals that are better adapted to the environment
are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species.
8. Charles Darwin: British naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection.
9. extinction: The disappearance of all members of a species from Earth.
10. selective breeding: A form of artificial selection where a few organisms with desired traits are
selected to serve as parents to produce offspring with these desired traits.
11. domesticated: A plant or animal that has been trained or adapted to live with and be of use to
humans; not wild.
12. cloning: An organism that is genetically identical to the organism from which it was produced.
13. genetic engineering: Genes from one organism are transferred into the DNA of another
organism in order to produce an organism with desired traits.
14. theory: An idea that is the best explanation of many observations and helps make new
predictions.