Final - Terms Flashcards
What is a homolog?
pairs of chromosomes
What is a zygote?
a fertilized egg
What is a centromere?
a region of a chromosome to which spindle fibers attach, its how the chromosome moves around in a cell when it needs to
What is interphase?
The time between divisions in the cell cycle
What are somatic cells?
Non-reproductive cells
What are gametes?
sex cell that contains the haploid set of chromosomes
What is spermatocyte?
diploid cells that undergo meiosis to form spermatids
What are spermatids?
The 4 haploid cells produced by meiotic division of a spermatocyte
What is spermatozoa?
the little swimmers
What is an oocyte?
A cell from which the ovum develops from meiosis
What is a polar body?
cells produced in female meiosis that will not function as gametes
What is an ovum?
the haploid cell produced by meiosis that becomes the functional gamete
What is an allele?
one of the possible alternative forms of a gene, usually distinguished from other alleles by its phenotypic effects
What is a locus?
the position of a gene on a chromosome
What is homozygous?
having identical alleles for one or more genes
What is heterozygous?
carrying two different alleles for one or more genes
What is a testcross?
crossing an organism with a dominant genotype to a recessive homozygous for a specific phenotype in order to determine dominant/recessiveness of the unknown genotype
What is a backcross?
the cross of an individual (F1) with one of its parents (F2) or an organism with the same genotype as a parent
What is epistasis?
the interaction of two or more non-allelic genes to control a single phenotype
What is hemizygous?
a gene present on the X chromosome that is expressed in males in both the recessive and dominant condition
What is penetrance?
the probability of a gene being expressed
What is expressivity?
the range of phenotypes resulting from a given genotype
What is a sex-influenced trait?
traits controlled by autosomal genes that are usually dominant in one sex but recessive in the other
What is a sex-limited trait?
traits that produces a phenotype in only one sex
What is assortative mating?
individuals with similar genotypes/phenotypes mate with one another more frequently
What is consanguineous?
marriage or mating among related individuals
What is pleiotropy?
the single gene controlling or influencing multiple phenotypes
What is a phenocopy?
an environmentally induced phenotype mimicking one usually produced by a single genotype
What is a multifactorial trait?
trait that results from the interaction of one or more environmental factors and two or more genes
What is a polygenic trait?
traits that are controlled by two or more genes
What is a complex trait?
traits controlled by multiple genes, the interaction of genes with each other, and with environmental factors where the contributions of genes and environment are undefined
What are 1st degree relatives?
parents, siblings, and children
What are 2nd degree relatives?
grandparents, nephews, aunts and uncles and neices
What are 3rd degree relatives?
first cousins, great-grandparents, great grandchildren
What is a quantitive trait?
the product of two or more genes and their environment
What is quantitive trait loci?
stretches of DNA containing or linked to the genes that underlie a quantitive trait
What is heritability?
an expression of how much of the observed variation in a phenotype is due to differences in genotype
What is variance?
genetic diversity in a population as a result of gene combinations
What is concordance?
agree between traits exhibited by both twins
What is hypertension?
high blood pressure
What is atherosclerosis?
high blood pressure
What is a karyotype?
a complete set of chromosomes from a cell that has been photographed during cell division and arranged in a standard sequence
What is a centromere?
a region of a chromosome to which spindle fibers attach during division. The location of a centromere gives a chromosome its shape
What is a biopsy?
medical removal of a tissue to test
What is a polyploid?
an organism with one or more extra sets of chromosomes
What is a euploid?
having a balanced set of any number of chromosomes
What is an aneuploid?
having a chromosome number not a multiple of a haploid number
What is cytogenetics?
the branch of genetics that studies the organization and arrangement of gens and chromosomes with microscopy
What is a triploid?
having three of every chromosome in a set
What is a tetraploid?
having four of every chromosome in a set
What is monosomy?
a condition in which one member of a chromosomal pair is missing; having one less than the diploid number (2n-1)
What is trisomy?
a condition in which one chromosome in present in three copies, whereas all other are diploid; having one more than the diploid number (2n+1)
What is deletion?
a mutation in which part of a chromosome or sequence of DNA is missing
What is duplication?
any duplication of a region of DNA that contains a gene
What is inversion?
segment of chromosome undergoes breakage and rearrangement within itself
What is translocation?
a chromosomal abnormality caused by rearrangement of parts between non-homologous chromosomes
What are acentric chromosomes?
a chromosome lacking a centromere
What is a dicentric chromosome?
a chromosome with 2 centromeres
What is a mosaic?
the presence of two different genotypes in an individual which developed from a single fertilized egg
What is a double blind study?
study where no one knows the critical aspects of the experiment
What is dispermy?
the entrance of two spermazoa in one egg
What is the vas deferens?
a duct connected to the epididymis, which sperm travels through
What is an oviduct?
connects the ovary to the uterus
What is a uterus?
female organ where an early embryo will implant and develop through pregnancy
What is a placenta?
an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall which allows nutrient intake, waste elimination
What are gonads?
organs where gametes are produced
What are testes?
male gonads that produce spermatozoa and sex hormones
What is an ovary?
female gonads that produce oocytes and female sex hormones
What is fertilization?
the fusion of two gametes to product a zygote
What is an androgen?
male sex hormone
What is a Barr body?
an inactivated X chromosome
What is a hermaphrodite?
shemale
What is a pseudohermaphrodite?
transexual
What is testosterone?
steroid produced by the testes, male sex hormone
What is estrogen?
female sex hormone
What is progesterone?
female hormone produced by the ovaries during the release of a mature egg from the ovary
What is ambiguous sex?
one who is independent of sex
What are nucleotides?
the basic building block of DNA and RNA. each nucleotide consists of a base, a phosphate, and a sugar
What is pre-mRNA?
the transcript made from the DNA template that is processed and modified to form messenger RNA
What is mRNA?
a single stranded complementary copy of the amino acid coding nucleotide sequence of a gene
What is rRNA?
RNA molecules the help form part of the ribosome
What are ribosomes?
Cytoplasmic particles that aid in the production of proteins
What is tRNA?
a small RNA molecule that contains a binding site for a specific type of amino acid and has a three base segment known as an anti-codon that recognizes a specific base sequence in messenger RNA (mRNA)
What is an intron?
DNA sequences present in some genes that transcribed but are removed during processing and therefore are not present in mature mRNA
What is an exon?
DNA sequences that are transcribed, joined to other exons during mRNA processing, and translated into amino acid sequence of a protein
What is an enzyme?
a protein that speeds up chemical reactions
“ase” as a suffix means what?
used to form names of enzymes
What is a peptide bond?
a covalent chemical link between the carboxyl group of one amino acid and the amino group of another amino acid
What is the N-terminus?
the end of a polypeptide or protein that has a free amino group
What is the C-terminus?
the end of a polypeptide or protein that has a free carboxyl group
What a codon?
triplets of nucleotides in mRNA that encode the information for a specific amino acid in a protein
What is an anti-codon?
a group of 3 nucleotides in a tRNA molecule that pairs with a complementary sequence (codon) in an mRNA molecule
What is the promoter?
a region of a DNA molecule to which RNA polymerase binds an initiates transcription
What is transcription?
transfer of genetic information from the base sequence of DNA to the base sequence of RNA, mediated by RNA synthesis
What is translation?
conversion of information encoded in the nucleotide sequence of an mRNA molecule into the linear sequence of amino acids in a protein
What is a template strand?
the single stranded DNA that serves to specify the nucleotide sequence of a newly synthesized polynucleotide strand
What is a substrate?
the specific chemical compound that is acted on by an enzyme
What is a product?
result of substrate x enzyme
What is a metabolic pathway?
Sequence of biochemical reactions catalyzed by enzymes
What is an essential amino acid?
amino acids that cannot by synthesized in the body and must be supplied in the diet
What is achondroplasia?
form of dwarfism
What is a mutagen?
an agent, such as radiation or a chemical substance, that caused genetic mutation
What is an ionizing radiation?
radiation that produces ions during the interaction with other matter, including molecules in cells
What is nucleotide substitution?
mutations that involve the replacement of one or more nucleotides in a DNA molecule with other nucleotides
What is xeroderma pigmentosum?
extreme sensitivity to UV rays
What is a thymine dimer?
A molecular lesion in which chemical bonds form between a pari of adjacent thymine bases in a DNA molecule
What is benign tumor?
a tumor that lacks the ability to invade neighboring tissue
What is metastasis?
a process by which cells detach from the primary tumor and move to other sites, forming new malignant tumors
What are somatic mutations?
mutations that aren’t inherited nor passed to offspring
What is apoptosis?
a cell self destructs
What is a clone?
genetically identical molecules, cells, or organism, all derived from a single ancestor
What are stem cells?
cells that can replicate themselves and form a variety of cell types in the body
What is reproductive cloning?
cloning through a surrogate mother
What is therapeutic cloning?
a procedure in which damaged tissues or organs are repaired or replaced with genetically identical cells that originate from undifferentiated stem cells
What is the gene pool?
the set of genetic information carried by the members of a sexually reproducing population
What is genetic equilibrium?
the situation when the allele frequency for a particular gene remains constant from generation to generation
What is the founder effect?
establishment of a new population with a few original founders
What is genetic polymorphism?
the existence of many forms of DNA sequences at a locus within the population
