Heredity and behaviour: Is it all in the genes?

Question 1

What are chromosomes?

Answer 1

Chromosomes are threadlike strands of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules that carry genetic information.

Question 2

What are genes?

Answer 2

Genes are DNA segments that serve as the key functional units in hereditary transmission

Question 3

What are polygenic traits?

Answer 3

Polygenic traits, or characteristics that
are influenced by more than one pair of genes.

Question 4

What are family studies?

Answer 4

In family studies, researchers assess hereditary influence by examining blood relatives to see how much they resemble one another on a specific trait.

Question 5

What are twin studies?

Answer 5

In twin studies, researchers assess hereditary influence by comparing the resemblance of
identical twins and fraternal twins with respect to a trait.

Question 6

What are adoption studies?

Answer 6

Adoption studies assess hereditary influence by examining the resemblance between adopted children and both their biological and their adoptive parents.

Question 7

What is genetic mapping?

Answer 7

Genetic mapping is the process of determining the location and chemical sequence of specific genes on specific chromosomes.

Question 8

What is epigenetics?

Answer 8

Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve
modifications to the DNA sequence.