genetics and genes

Question 1

the nature vs nuture debate is?

Answer 1

a false dichotomy

Question 2

nature vs nuture consists of a?

Answer 2

complex and multidirectional relationship between genetic, the environment and behavior

Question 3

what is a genotype?

Answer 3

the specific genetic makeup

Question 4

what is a phenotype?

Answer 4

the observable characteristic produced by genetic commands, which can be altered by genes or the environment

Question 5

how many chromosomes are in a cell?

Answer 5

46

Question 6

when an egg and sperm cell unite, how many chromosomes do they each carry?

Answer 6

23

Question 7

what does each chromosome contain?

Answer 7

a tightly coiled molecule of DNA partially covered by protein

Question 8

genes carry codes for?

Answer 8

protein manufacture

Question 9

genes are coded in a combination of four bases:

Answer 9

adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine

Question 10

what is an allele?

Answer 10

a variant of something, an alternate form of a gene that produces various characteristics

Question 11

what is epigenetics?

Answer 11

how a certain gene can be turned on or off (often related to environmental factors)

Question 12

does one particular gene correlate to a specific characteristic?

Answer 12

NO

Question 13

what is a dominant gene?

Answer 13

if a single copy is present, the particular characteristic controlled by that gene will be displayed

Question 14

what is a recessive gene?

Answer 14

the particular characteristic controlled by the gene will only be displayed if the partner genes inherited by bother parents are recessive

Question 15

what is polygenic transmission?

Answer 15

a given characteristic is controlled by two or more genes (deals with complex behaviors)

Question 16

what is the human genome project?

Answer 16

an attempt to identify and map all known human genes, with the goal of understanding both structure and function

Question 17

what is recombinant DNA?

Answer 17

enzymes that cut and combine DNA from different organisms (taking a piece of one person’s DNA and implanting it into someone else’s DNA)

Question 18

what are gene knockout procedures?

Answer 18

eliminating certain genes by disabling them

Question 19

what is a limitation of the gene knockout procedure?

Answer 19

few behaviors are controlled by a single gene

Question 20

what is heredity?

Answer 20

passage of characteristics from parents to their offspring through genes (some of the genes we inherit from our parents will influence our characteristics)

Question 21

what is heritability?

Answer 21

how much variation in something can be attributed to genetic differences

Question 22

what is the heritability coefficient?

Answer 22

a statistical element of the extent to which a variation in a characteristic or trait among a group of people can be attributed to genetic factors

Question 23

what does it mean to have a heritability of 0? how about 1?

Answer 23

0: genes are not influencing
1: genes have a large influence

Question 24

what do heritability coefficients apply to?

Answer 24

variance in a trait among a specific group

Question 25

is there a heritability coefficient that applies to everyone? do independent estimates need to be calculated for separate groups?

Answer 25

no! yes!

Question 26

what does a smaller heritability coefficient suggest?

Answer 26

genetics are explaining less of a difference, and environment is explaining more

Question 27

what do twin/adoption studies provide us with?

Answer 27

a natural experiment that allows us to estimate the variance associated with both genetic factors and environmental factors

Question 28

what is concordance rate?

Answer 28

the rate of co-occurrence of a characteristic among a particular group

Question 29

where are higher concordance rates usually found?

Answer 29

among individuals who are more highly related to each other (suggesting genetic contributions)