Selfish Gene Flashcards
Where does DNA live? Where is it distributed?
Distributed among the cells
How many cells in an average human body?
A thousand million million
Every cell contains …
A complete copy of that body ‘s DNA
Building =
Survival machine
A room in the ‘building’ =
Cell
Book case in the room of the building =
Nucleus
The volumes of books in the bookshelf =
Chromosomes
A page in a volume =
Gene
How many chromosomes are there in a human?
46
What 2 things do DNA molecules do?
1) Replicate
2) supervises manufacture of protein molecules
The chromosomes consist of …
23 pairs of chromosomes (1a, 1b - 23a, 23b)
If the two pages (eye colour) differ, what happens?
1) Sometimes one prevails over the other - brown prevails over blue.
2) Most usual is that there is some kind of compromise
A gene that is ignored in the building of a body but that can still be passed on to future generations?
A recessive gene. Brown beats blue eyes but the blue eyed gene can still influence future generations through that brown-eyed individual (for example).
The dominant gene is …
The opposite of a recessive gene.
When two genes are rivals for the same slot on a chromosome they are called …
Alleles of each other
Normal division of a cell into two new cells is called …
Mitosis
Sperms and eggs are unique among our cells in that …
They only contain 23 chromosomes, not 46
What is the main argument of the book?
The fundamental unit of selection is the gene. Not the species or even the individual.
Hymenoptera
Bees, ants, wasps
Haplodiploid?
Females develop from fertilised (diploid) eggs and males develop from unfertilised (haploid) ones. (Hymenoptera is an example)
What is the second kind of cell division called and what’s special about it?
Meiosis - it only occurs in the production of the sex cells.
