1. Genetics Vocabulary
Words to know!

2. Gregor Mendel His work contributed to the discovery of inheritance.
Worked with pea plants

3. Genetics Definition: The study of heredity.
Example: If you study genetics you study how traits are passed down from parents to children.

4. Heredity Definition: The passing of traits from parents to offspring.
Example: Both father and son can roll their tongue.

5. Trait Definition: a characteristic that occurs in 2 or more forms.
Example: Dimples are an example of a trait.

6. Alleles Definition: Different forms of a gene for a single trait.
Example: Blue eyes and brown eyes are examples of different alleles for eye color.

7. Gene
Definition: A section of a chromosome that holds the instructions for a trait.
Example: Humans have 20,000 genes in their 46 chromosomes.

8. Dominant
Definition: The form of a trait (allele) that hides the recessive trait.
Example: The ability to roll your tongue is caused by a dominant gene.

9. Recessive Definition: The form of a trait that is hidden.
Example: A white tiger is a result of a recessive gene.

10. Phenotype Definition: Physical appearance of an organism.
Example: Phenotypes are easy to understand because they refer to something you can see in an organism.

11. Genotype Definition: Genetic makeup of an organism.
Example: BB, Bb, and bb are all examples of genotypes.

12. Heterozygous Definition: Genotype made of two different alleles.
Example: “Rr” is an example of a heterozygous genotype.

13. Homozygous Definition: Genotype made of two of the same alleles.
Example: “RR” or “rr” are both homozygous genotypes.
Other Form: Homozygous Dominant, Homozygous Recessive.

14. Probability Definition: Chance of an event occurring.
Example: There are 13 hearts in a deck of cards so the probability of getting a heart is 13/52.

15. Punnett Square
Definition: A tool used to predict the chance of traits occurring in offspring.
Example: The chance of getting Bb is 50%.

16. Monohybrid Definition: A cross involving just one trait.
Example: Bb x bb is a monohybrid cross because it involves just one trait.

17. Dihybrid
Definition: This is a type of cross that involves 2 different traits.
Example: Dihybrid crosses are complex because they involve 2 different traits.

18. P1 Generation Definition: Parent generation used in a cross.
Example: The P1 generation is the first generation because it represents the parents.

19. F1 Generation Definition: The offspring of the P1 generation.
Example: The children from the P1 generation are the F1 generation.

20. Phenotypic Ratio
Definition: The ratio of the number of offspring with the dominant trait to the number of offspring with the recessive trait.
Example: 3:1 is the phenotypic ratio for this cross.

21. Genotypic Ratio
Definition: A ratio between the different genotypes in a cross.
Example: In this genotypic ratio there is only 1 plant that shows both recessive traits.