Mendelian Genetics
Mendelian genetics is a field of study that is concerned with understanding how genes are passed from one generation to the next. The laws of Mendelian genetics describe the patterns of inheritance that are observed in offspring when genes are passed from parents to offspring. These laws are based on the work of Gregor Mendel, who conducted extensive experiments with pea plants in the late 19th century and discovered several principles that govern the transmission of genes.
The laws of Mendelian genetics are as follows:
- 1.Law of segregation: The two copies of a gene, one from each parent, segregate during the formation of gametes (sperm or eggs) so that each gamete receives only one copy. When these gametes fertilize, each offspring receives one copy of the gene from each parent.
- 2.Law of dominance: When an offspring inherits two different copies of a gene, one version (allele) may be dominant, and the other version may be recessive. The dominant allele will determine the phenotype (observable traits) of the offspring, while the recessive allele has no effect on the phenotype.
- 3.Law of independent assortment: Genes for different traits are sorted independently of each other during the formation of gametes. This means that the transmission of one gene does not affect the transmission of another gene.
These laws provide a basic understanding of the transmission of genes from one generation to the next, and are still widely used in modern genetics.
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