Mendelian Inheritance

Mendelian inheritance refers to the set of rules about genetic inheritance derived from the works of Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and botanist. Mendel's experiments with pea plants laid the foundation for our understanding of how traits are passed from parents to offspring.

Key Concepts:

• Genes: Genes are units of heredity that are passed from parents to offspring. They determine specific traits, such as eye color or flower shape.
• Alleles: Different forms of a gene. For example, the gene for flower color in pea plants may have alleles for purple flowers and alleles for white flowers.
• Dominant and Recessive Traits: When an organism has two different alleles for a trait, one may be dominant and the other recessive. The dominant allele determines the organism's appearance, while the recessive allele has no noticeable effect.
• Genotype and Phenotype: An organism's genotype is its genetic makeup, while its phenotype is its physical appearance. For example, a pea plant with the genotype "PP" (two dominant alleles) will have the phenotype of purple flowers.
• Punnett Squares: A tool used to predict the possible genotypes and phenotypes of offspring from a genetic cross.

Study Guide:

1. What are genes and how are they inherited?
2. Explain the difference between dominant and recessive traits.
3. How does genotype differ from phenotype?
4. Describe the process of genetic crosses using Punnett squares.
5. Provide examples of human traits that follow Mendelian inheritance patterns.

Understanding Mendelian inheritance is crucial for comprehending the basics of genetics and heredity. It serves as the foundation for more complex genetic concepts and the study of inheritance patterns in various organisms.