B1- You and your genes Flashcards
How many chromosomes does the human nucleus cell have?
The genetic material in the nucleus is arranged into chromosomes. The human cell nucleus has 23 pairs of chromosomes.
What is DNA?
Each chromosome is one very long molecule of DNA - that is coiled up.
What is a gene?
A gene is a short length of a chromosome.
What do genes control?
Genes control the development of different characteristics ( e.g. Hair colour) and how an organism functions.
What are different versions of the same gene called?
The different versions of the same gene are called alleles.
Describe genes?
Each gene is a code for making a certain protein. Having different versions of proteins means that we end up with different characteristics.
What are the two types of proteins?
Structural proteins- They are part of our skin, hair, blood and the cytoplasm in our cells.
E.g. Collagen which is found in our bones and tendons.
Functional proteins- They are found in enzymes that help with digestion by breaking down food molecules.
E.g. Amylase is a digestive enzyme that breaks starch to maltose.
What is an organisms genotype?
Genotype is all of the genes the organism has.
The genetic make up.
What is an organisms phenotype?
Phenotype is all the characteristics the organism displays.
What characteristics are caused by environmental factors?
Environmental factors control some characteristics. They don’t have anything to do with genes. For example, cuts and scars.
How many chromosomes do sex cells have?
Sperm and the egg contain just 23 single chromosomes.
What happens when the sperm fertilises the egg?
During sexual reproduction- the 23 chromosome in the sperm combines with the 23 chromosomes in the egg.
The fertilised egg then has 23 PAIRS of chromosomes.
Why do children resemble their parents but are never identical?
Half the child’s chromosome comes from each parent. This means the child gets some of their alleles from each parent. This is why they look similar to their parents.
However, they don’t look identical because they haven’t got all the same alleles.
How are genes randomly put together to make eggs and sperms?
- The 2 chromosomes in a pair are never identical because they have different alleles.
- So, when they go into 2 different sex cells each of the two cells gets different alleles.
- Each of the 23 chromosome pairs separates independently.
- Thus, there are millions of different chromosome combinations that can be produced from the separation of 23 pairs.
- This means all sex cells produced by an individual will be all genetically different.
- A woman’s egg can be fertilised by any one of millions of sperm.
This means the chance of two siblings looking identical is minuscule.
What are homozygous and heterozygous?
Homozygous- you have 2 alleles the same for a particular gene.
Heterozygous- you have 2 different alleles for that particular gene.
What are dominant and recessive alleles?
Dominant alleles always display their characteristic. Overcomes the recessive allele.
• To show the characteristics caused by a recessive allele- both alleles for a gene have to be recessive.