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GENETICS
Genetics
• Is the study of inheritable characteristics,
such as eye colour, are passed on from
generation to generation
DNA Review
See your DNA handout
from Unit One
Genes
• Found on the chromosomes in each
individual cell
• Contains the genetic code—the chemical
language through which the information
needed to make proteins is kept
Genetic Code
• Genetic information is located in our
chromosomes which are composed of long
strands of DNA
• Genetic information is used by our cells to
make protein
• Genes tell the cell which of the 20 kinds of
amino acids are to be linked together into a
chain to form a specific protein
Genetic Code (2)
• Human DNA contains enough information
necessary to assemble about 100 000
different kinds of proteins
• All known life forms use the same genetic
code and same cellular mechanism to
produce proteins
• Humans share many genes with organisms
that appear vastly different from us
Viruses
• Viruses attack our cells by substituting their
own genes into the cellular apparatus of
human cells
• Instead of making human protein, our
infected cells make viral protein
• Because of similarities in genetics a virus
can spread from a bird to a pig to a human