| Question | Answer |
| 1) Who is the scientist called the “Father of Genetics” who did research involving pea plants? | Gregor Mendel
|
2) Who is the scientist credited with using a square and mathematical probability to predict different outcomes of genetic crosses? | Reginald Punnett
| 3) What is the term given to the inherited combination of alleles an organism has? | Genotype
| 4) What is the term given to the behavioral or physical characteristics of an organism that can be readily observed? | Phenotype
| 5) What is it called when the order of bases in an organism’s DNA changes (which would cause a change in the message coded in the DNA)? | Mutation
| 6) Different versions of genes are called __________. | Alleles
| 7) The allele that is expressed if it is inherited is called the _____________ allele. In genetics, this is represented by a capital letter. | Dominant
| 8) The allele that is only expressed in the absence of the dominant allele is called the _____________ allele. In genetics, this is represented by a lowercase letter. | Recessive
| 9) True or false: dominant alleles are the better alleles to inherit (stronger, healthier DNA). They are also the alleles that you would always see expressed more often in a population. | False
| 10) Another way of saying “purebred” genotype is… Hint: BB, hh, ZZ, and jj are all examples of purebred genotypes. | Homozygous
| 11) Another way of saying “hybrid” genotype is… Hint: Bb, Hh, Zz, and Jj are all examples of hybrid genotypes. | Heterozygous
| 12) In this list of genotypes, which ones are examples of HOMOZYGOUS genotypes? TT, Tt, YY, Hh, Ll, Pp, PP, MM, Nn, Rr, Qq, QQ, qq, mm, tt. | Homozygous genotypes have either all dominant alleles (all capital letters) or all recessive alleles (all lowercase letters). TT, YY, PP, MM, QQ, qq, mm, tt.
| 13) In this list of genotypes, which ones are examples of HETEROZYGOUS genotypes? TT, Tt, YY, Hh, Ll, Pp, PP, MM, Nn, Rr, Qq, QQ, qq, mm, tt. | Heterozygous genotypes have one copy each of the dominant and recessive allele. They are represented by one capital and one lowercase letter. Tt, Hh, Ll, Pp, Nn, Rr, Qq.
| 14) If a trait is coded for in an organism’s DNA, it is said to be a(n) ______________ trait, whereas if a trait is something an organism obtains through its life and its experiences it is said to be a(n) ______________ trait. | Inherited; Acquired
| 15) In this list of traits, which ones are ACQUIRED traits? Ability to speak Spanish, Being born with brown eyes, Wearing brown colorful contacts, Tattoos and piercings, Having a birthmark, Having dimples, Dyeing your hair brown, Being born with brown hair. | Ability to speak Spanish, Wearing brown colorful contacts, Tattoos and piercings, Dyeing your hair brown
| 16) In this list of traits, which ones are INHERITED traits? Ability to speak Spanish, Being born with brown eyes, Wearing brown colorful contacts, Tattoos and piercings, Having a birthmark, Having dimples, Dyeing your hair brown, Being born with brown hair. | Being born with brown eyes, Having a birthmark, Having dimples, Being born with brown hair
| 17) Imagine that there are some tomato plants that produce lots of fruit and other tomato plants that can grow in harsh weather. A farmer cross-pollinates the tomato plants, resulting in tomato plants that can produce lots of fruit, even in harsh weather. This is an example of what process? | Selective breeding
| 18) Imagine that there are some tomato plants that produce lots of fruit and other tomato plants that can grow in harsh weather. A scientist takes DNA from the tomato plants that produce lots of fruit and inserts it into the genome of the hardy plants, resulting in tomato plants that can produce lots of fruit, even in harsh weather. This is an example of what process? | Genetic engineering
| 19) What are the names structures in the pictures below? A (1) is made up of condensed genetic material (2). A specific region on (2) that codes for a certain protein is called a (3). Different versions of a (3) are called (4). Word bank: DNA, chromosome, alleles, gene. | 1: chromosome. 2: DNA. 3: gene. 4: alleles.
| 20) Is it possible for two parents who have brown eyes to have their traits combine to make a baby with blue eyes? Explain. (Assume the simplified scenario in which the allele for brown eyes is completely dominant to the allele for blue eyes). | Yes. If both parents are heterozygous (Bb) for eye color, their possible child could inherit a recessive allele from each parent, resulting in the bb genotype and the blue eyes phenotype. This is an example of the phrase “skipping a generation.”
| 21) Imagine that, for a certain species of cactus, long spikes are recessive to short spikes. Is it possible for two cacti that are purebred for short spikes to have offspring with long spikes? Assume that no major mutations occur. | This is not possible. If both parents have the short spikes phenotype and are “purebred” (homozygous genotype), both parents have only dominant alleles to pass on to their offspring. Therefore, the offspring would only inherit copies of the dominant allele (short spikes) from the parent generation and would not have the alleles for long spikes (which would only be seen if two copies of the recessive allele were inherited).
| 22) In humans, the disease cystic fibrosis is caused by inheriting two copies of a recessive allele. Let “F” represent the dominant allele (not having cystic fibrosis) and “f” represent the recessive allele that causes cystic fibrosis. Complete a Punnett square to see the chances of these two people having a baby born with cystic fibrosis. | There is a 50% chance that this couple will have a baby who is born with cystic fibrosis. The parent with the homozygous recessive genotype “ff” has the disease while the parent with the heterozygous (“hybrid”) genotype “Ff” is a carrier of the disease.
| 23) The Punnett square below shows possible offspring resulting from a cross between two dolphins. What are the GENOTYPES and PHENOTYPES of the PARENTS if D represents the dominant trait for a taller dorsal fin and d represents the recessive trait for a shorter dorsal fin? | Parent genotypes are both Dd (heterozygous or “hybrid”). They would both show the dominant phenotype, however (tall dorsal fin).
| 24) The Punnett square below shows possible offspring resulting from a cross between two dolphins. What is the probability of the OFFSPRING being born with the TALL dorsal fin PHENOTYPE? (D represents the dominant trait for a taller dorsal fin and d represents the recessive trait for a shorter dorsal fin) | There is a 75% chance of the offspring being born with a tall dorsal fin. Offspring with the genotypes DD or Dd would have this phenotype.
| 25) Imagine that, for a certain species of sheep, tan wool (T) is dominant to gray wool (t). If two heterozygous sheep mated, what are the chances that their offspring would have GRAY WOOL? Draw a Punnett square on your paper to help you solve this problem. | There is a ¼ (25%) chance that the offspring would be born with the “tt” homozygous recessive genotype, resulting in the recessive phenotype of gray wool. |
