Psych NS Elec 2

GENETICS
 GENETICS

We all possess genes that

influence our lives in
significant ways.

Contribute to our
susceptibility of diseases
Affect our physical & disorders (Genetic
characteristics predisposition), as well as
intelligence and
personality

fundamental to
who and what we
are
 GENETICS

GENETICS
- is the study of inherited traits and their variation

 obvious physical characteristics

 many aspects of health, including disease

 talents, quirks, behaviors, and other difficult-to-define characteristics

might appear to be inherited if they affect several family members,
but may reflect a combination of genetic and environmental influences

 some traits attributed to genetics border on the silly

- is a life science
 GENETICS

GENETICS
- until 1990s, genetics was more an academic than a clinical science,
- researchers completed the global Human Genome Project, which deciphered
the complete set of our genetic instructions.
 GENETICS

Although the science of genetics is

relatively new compared with sciences
such as astronomy and chemistry, people
have understood the hereditary nature of
traits and have practiced genetics for
thousands of years.
 GENETICS

Agriculture

Pharmaceutical
Industry GENETICS Medicine

Psychology Biology
 GENETICS

Role of GENETICS in Biology

- Genetics provides one of biology’s unifying principles: all organisms use genetic
systems that have a number of features in common.

- Genetics also undergirds the study of many other biological disciplines.

 Evolution, for example, is genetic change taking place through time; so the study
of evolution requires an understanding of genetics.
 Developmental biology relies heavily on genetics: tissues and organs develop
through the regulated expression of genes.
 Taxonomy; Ecology; Animal Behavior
 GENETICS

Role of GENETICS in Psychology

- Genes help to define who an individual is inside and out.

- Genetics does not only affect physical traits but also psychological traits.

- From the psychological perspective, the ability to learn requires many different
cognitive functions: mental abilities that are used in the process of acquiring
knowledge.
 Cognitive functions

- Both the construction of the brain and the functioning of its neurons rely on
genetic programs, so genes must at least exert some influence on the cognitive
functions involved in learning processes.
 GENETICS

Divisions of GENETICS

The study of genetics consists of three

major subdisciplines: transmission
genetics, molecular genetics, and
population genetics.
 GENETICS

TRANSMISSION GENETICS
relation between chromosomes
and heredity
Also known as classical genetics,
transmission genetics encompasses the
arrangement of genes on
basic principles of heredity and how
chromosomes
traits are passed from one generation to
the next.
gene mapping

The focus is on the individual

organism—how an individual organism
inherits its genetic makeup and how it
passes its genes to the next generation.
 GENETICS

MOLECULAR GENETICS
cellular processes of replication,
transcription, and translation
Molecular genetics concerns the
chemical nature of the gene itself: how
genetic information is encoded,
replicated, and expressed.
gene regulation

The focus in molecular genetics is the

gene, its structure, organization, and
function.
 GENETICS

POPULATION GENETICS

Population genetics explores the genetic

composition of groups of individual
members of the same species
(populations) and how that composition Population
changes geographically and with the genetics is
passage of time. fundamentally the
study of evolution.

The focus of population genetics is the

group of genes found in a population.
 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

The early scientists gave

careful consideration to
human reproduction and
heredity. The following
concepts were developed:
 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

Pangenesis
Genetic information travels from
different parts of the body to
reproductive organs by specific
particles called gemmules.

Early Concepts of HEREDITY
Inheritance of Acquired
Characteristics
Acquired traits become incorporated
into hereditary information.
GENETICS
For example…
People who developed
musical ability through diligent
study would produce children
who are innately endowed
with musical ability.
 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

Preformationism
Miniature organism (homunculus)
resides in sex cells, and all traits
are inherited from one parent.
 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

This idea suggested that the

Blending Inheritance genetic material itself blends,
much as blue and yellow
Genes blend and mix. pigments blend to make green
paint.
 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

Germ-Plasm Theory
All cells contain a complete set of
genetic information.
 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

All living organisms are composed of

cells.

Cell Theory Cells are the basic unit of life.

All cells arise from pre-existing cells.

 GENETICS

Early Concepts of HEREDITY

Traits are inherited in accord with

Mendelian Inheritance defined principles.

The Rise of the Science of Genetics
In 1676- Nehemiah Grew
reported that plants reproduce
sexually by using pollen from
the male sex cells.
In 1879- Walther Flemming
observed the division of
chromosomes and published a
superb description of mitosis.
GENETICS
A number of botanists began to
1800s- Developments in cytology
experiment with crossing plants
(the study of cells) had a strong
and creating hybrids, including
influence on genetics.
Gregor Mendel.
In 1839- Matthias Jacob
Schleiden and Theodor Schwann In 1833- Robert Brown described
proposed the concept of the cell the cell nucleus in 1833.
theory.
 GENETICS

The Rise of the Science of Genetics

In 1859- Charles Darwin, put
In 1885- It was generally In the last half of 19th century-
forth the theory of evolution
recognized that the nucleus Cytologists demonstrated that
through natural selection and
contained the hereditary the nucleus had a role in
published his ideas in On the
information. fertilization.
Origin of Species.

In 1900- Gregor Mendel’s pivotal

In 1910- Thomas Hunt Morgan
In 1902- After the acceptance of 1866 publication on
(1866–1945) discovered the
Mendel’s theory of heredity, experiments with pea plants,
first genetic mutant of fruit flies
Walter Sutton proposed that which revealed the principles of
and used fruit flies to unravel
genes, the units of inheritance, heredity, was rediscovered; it
many details of transmission
are located on chromosomes. was a watershed in the history
genetics.
of genetics.

The Rise of the Science of Genetics
In the 1930s- Ronald A. Fisher,
John B. S. Haldane, and Sewall
Wright laid the foundation for
population genetics by synthesizing
Mendelian genetics and
evolutionary theory.
In 1977- Walter Gilbert and
Frederick Sanger developed
methods for sequencing DNA.
In 1940s- Geneticists began to
use bacteria and viruses. At
about this same time, evidence
accumulated that DNA was the
repository of genetic
information.
In 1973- Advances in molecular
genetics led to the first
recombinant DNA experiments,
which touched off another
revolution in genetic research.
GENETICS
In 1953- James Watson and Francis
Crick, along with Maurice Wilkins
and Rosalind Franklin, described
the three-dimensional structure of
DNA, ushering in the era of
molecular genetics.
In 1966- The chemical structure
of DNA and the system by which
it determines the amino acid
sequence of proteins had been
worked out.
 GENETICS

The Rise of the Science of Genetics

In 1983- The polymerase chain
reaction, a technique for
quickly amplifying tiny
amounts of DNA, was developed
by Kary Mullis and others.
In 1990- Gene therapy was used
for the first time to treat human
genetic disease in the United
States, and the Human Genome
Project was launched.
In 1995- The first complete DNA
sequence of a free-living
organism—the bacterium
Haemophilus influenzae—was
determined, and the first complete
sequence of a eukaryotic organism
(yeast) was reported a year later.

In 2003- The human genome

In 2000- A rough draft of the
sequence was completed,
human genome sequence was
ushering in a new era in
reported.
genetics.
 GENETICS

Some Important Aspects in the

Study of Genetics

The gene is the

Cells are of two fundamental unit
Genes come in
basic types: of heredity.
multiple forms
eukaryotic and
called alleles.
prokaryotic.

Genetic
Genes confer information is
phenotypes. carried in DNA and
RNA.
 GENETICS

Some Important Aspects in the

Study of Genetics
Chromosomes
separate through
Genetic
the processes of
information is
Genes are located mitosis and
transferred from
on chromosomes. meiosis.
DNA to RNA to
protein.
Mutations are
permanent
changes in genetic Genetic
information that information is
can be passed carried in DNA and
from cell to cell or RNA.
from parent to
offspring.
 GENETICS

Some Important Aspects in the

Study of Genetics

Some traits are

Evolution is
affected by
genetic change.
multiple factors.