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fandomhigh2006-09-26 09:21 am
blonde-doctor.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-09-26 09:21 am
Entry tags:
Biology, Tuesday, Period 2
An arrangement of muffins and juice sat on a table near the door, and a rather wobbly drawing of two dragons -- one with wings but not horns, and one with horns but not wings -- decorated the whiteboard. Elliot waited for most students to be in their seats before beginning
"Hey, people. Today we're going to talk about genetics, which is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. Heredity and variations form the basis of genetics. Humans applied knowledge of genetics in prehistory with the domestication and breeding of plants and animals. In modern research, genetics provides important tools for the investigation of the function of a particular gene -- like, the, analysis of genetic interactions. Within organisms, genetic information generally is carried in chromosomes, where it is represented in the chemical structure of particular DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules.
Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing the amino-acid sequences in proteins, which in turn play a large role in determining the final phenotype, or physical appearance, of the organism. In diploid organisms, a dominant allele on one chromosome will mask the expression of a recessive gene on the other.
Genetics determines much (but not all) of the appearance and behavior of organisms, though environmental factors are also important. That gets into nature vs. nurture, which is a little beyond today's class.
"Let me show you how this works." Elliot tapped on the board. "Now, the standard way to represent a dominant gene is with a capital letter. Everyone gets two genes for every trait -- one from mom and one from dad. If we assume wings and horns are both dominant and both parents have matching alleles, or genes, then the dragon mom here would be WWhh, while dad is wwHH.
But it's not always that neat. Mom could also be Wwhh, and dad could be wwHh, and the one dominant gene overrules the recessive gene -- so if the baby came out WwHh, it would have both wings and horns, even though neither of its parents have both. And similarly, if the kid was wwhh, it'd have neither. This is why sometimes you get siblings that look nothing alike."
She passed out the lab. "You'll be working in three groups, each with different dragon parents. Work together to set up a table to figure out how likely it is the dragon babies would have wings or horns. I'll be around if you need help. Oh, and quiz next week, so studying would not be the worst idea you could have."
"Hey, people. Today we're going to talk about genetics, which is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. Heredity and variations form the basis of genetics. Humans applied knowledge of genetics in prehistory with the domestication and breeding of plants and animals. In modern research, genetics provides important tools for the investigation of the function of a particular gene -- like, the, analysis of genetic interactions. Within organisms, genetic information generally is carried in chromosomes, where it is represented in the chemical structure of particular DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules.
Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing the amino-acid sequences in proteins, which in turn play a large role in determining the final phenotype, or physical appearance, of the organism. In diploid organisms, a dominant allele on one chromosome will mask the expression of a recessive gene on the other.
Genetics determines much (but not all) of the appearance and behavior of organisms, though environmental factors are also important. That gets into nature vs. nurture, which is a little beyond today's class.
"Let me show you how this works." Elliot tapped on the board. "Now, the standard way to represent a dominant gene is with a capital letter. Everyone gets two genes for every trait -- one from mom and one from dad. If we assume wings and horns are both dominant and both parents have matching alleles, or genes, then the dragon mom here would be WWhh, while dad is wwHH.
But it's not always that neat. Mom could also be Wwhh, and dad could be wwHh, and the one dominant gene overrules the recessive gene -- so if the baby came out WwHh, it would have both wings and horns, even though neither of its parents have both. And similarly, if the kid was wwhh, it'd have neither. This is why sometimes you get siblings that look nothing alike."
She passed out the lab. "You'll be working in three groups, each with different dragon parents. Work together to set up a table to figure out how likely it is the dragon babies would have wings or horns. I'll be around if you need help. Oh, and quiz next week, so studying would not be the worst idea you could have."
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