B12 Flashcards
What is DNA?
Chemical that all of the genetic material in a cell is made up from. It is a polymer that is made up of two strands coiled together in the shape of a double helix.
What does DNA contain?
Coded information , the instructions to put an organism together and make it work
Where is DNA found?
In the nucleus of animals and plants , in really long structures called chromosomes
How do chromosomes usually come?
In pairs
What is a gene?
Small section of DNA found on a chromosome. Each gene codes for a particular sequence of amino acide which are put together to make specific proteins.
How many amino acids are there?
20 but make up thousands of different proteins
What is the genome?
Entire genetic material of an organism.
Why the genome is important?
Understanding it is important for science and medicine.
- allows scientists to identify genes links to different types of diseases, which could help find treatments
- also to see human migration patterns
What is sexual reproduction?
Where genetic information from two organisms combine to produce offspring which are genetically different to either parent
What happens in sexual reproduction.
Gametes are produced by mother and father by meiosis (egg and sperm cells). Each gamete contains 23 chromosomes in a normal cell. Egg and sperm fuse together to form a cell with a full number of chromosome
What does sexual reproduction involve?
The fusion of male and female gametes. There are two parente , the offspring contain a mixture of their parents genes
What is fertilisation?
When the sperm meets an egg producing offspring
Why does offspring inherit features?
Receives a mixture of chromosomes from its mum and its dad. The mixture produces variation
Examples of gametes?
Egg
Sperm
Pollen
Egg cells in plants
What is asexual reproduction?
Involves only one parent and no fusion of gametes. There is no mixing of genetic material. This leads to genetically identical offspring. Mitosis is involved
What is produced by asexual reproduction?
Clone
Examples of asexual reproduction?
Bacteria, some plants, some animals
How are gametes produced
Meiosis
How do you make gametes with only half the original number of chromosomes?
Cells divide by meiosis which involves two cell divisions
What must happen before meiosis takes place?
It divides its genetic information, forming two armed chromosomes , one arm of each chromosome is an exact copy of the other arm . After replication , the chromosomes arrange themselves into pairs
What happens in the first division in meiosis?
Chromosome pairs line up in the centre of the cell. They are then pulled apart so each new cell only has one copy of each chromosome. Some of the fathers chromosomes and some of the mothers go into each new cell.
What happens in the second division in meiosis?
Chromosomes line up again in the centre of the cell. The arms of the chromosomes are pulled apart .
Product of the second cell division?
Get four gametes each with only a single set of chromosomes in it . Each gamete is genetically different form the others because the chromosomes all get shuffled up during meiosis and each gamete gets half of the, at random
Where are gametes formed?
In the reproductive organs
What happens when two gametes fuse?
Result in new cell that divides by mitosis. Mitosis repeats many times to produce lots of new cells in an embryo . As the embryo develops they start to differentiate into different specialised cells
How many pairs of chromosomes in every human cell?
23