Genetics Flashcards
what is a genome?
the entire genetic material of an organism, all the dna in an individual
what is a gene?
a gene is a short length of dna which codes for a particular characteristic or protein
what are chromosomes?
lengths of dna that occur as functional pairs in the nucleus
what is a nucleotide?
the building blocks of our dna, Each one is made up of a phosphate group, a pentose sugar and a base
describe the structure of dna
dna is made up of two nucleotide strands with a sigar and a phosphate backbone and interlinking bases to form a double helix
what shape is dna?
double helix
what are the base pairing rules?
adenine pairs with thymine (A-T)
guanine pairs with cytosine (G-C)
they are complementary to each other
what is it that makes us all unique?
the sequence of the bases along each chromosome is unique
what is a mutation?
a random change in the structure of dna, gene or chromosome
how does dna code for chromosomes?
along the dna, each sequence of 3 bases, called a base triplet, codes for one amino acid in the production of a protein
what is mitosis?
a type of cell division that produces daughter cells genetically identical to the parent cell and each other
what are clones of cells?
cells that are genetically identical to eachother
where does mitosis take place?
throughout the body
what is the purpose of mitosis? x3
- growth
- replacing worn out cells
- repair of damaged tissue
What is an allele
Different forms of the same gene
What is a genotype
Paired symbols showing the allele arrangement in an individual