Mendel’s Laws of Heredity

Why we look the way we look...

 History
Principles of genetics were developed in the mid
19th century by Gregor Mendel an Austrian
Monk.

Gregor developed these principles without ANY

scientific equipment - only his mind!

Gregor experimented with pea plants, by crossing

various strains and observing the characteristics of
their offspring.
 History cont…
Studied the following characteristics:
Pea color (Green, yellow)
Pea shape (round, wrinkled)
 Pea shape (round, wrinkled)
Flower color (purple, white)
Plant height (tall, short)
 History cont…
Made the following
observations (example
given is pea shape)
When he crossed a
round pea and wrinkled
pea, the offspring (F1
gen.) always had round
peas.
When he crossed these
F1 plants, however, he
would get offspring
which produced round
and wrinkled peas in a
3:1 ratio.
 Genetic Vocabulary
Genetics: The scientific study of heredity
Genes: Point on a chromosome that controls the trait.
Allele: Alternate forms of a gene/factor. A or a
Genotype: combination of alleles an organism has.
(genetic traits)
Phenotype: How an organism appears. (physical traits)
Dominant: An allele which is expressed (masks the
other).
Recessive: An allele which is present but remains
unexpressed (masked)
Homozygous: Both alleles for a trait are the same.
Heterozygous: The organism's alleles for a trait are
different.
 Genetic Vocabulary
Probability : The mathematical chance that an event
will happen.
Meiosis :The cell division that produces sex cells.
Mutation : A change in the type or order of the bases
in an organism DNA: deletion, insertion or substitution.
Natural Selection : The process by which organisms
with favorable traits survive and reproduce at a higher
rate than organisms without favorable traits.
Evolution :The process by which population
accumulate inherited changes over time.
 Punnett Squares
Genetic problems can be easily solved using
a tool called a Punnett square.
Tool for calculating genetic probabilities

A Punnett square
 Punnett Squares Vocabulary
Punnett Squares : The chart used to show the possible
ways genes are combined when passed from parents to
offspring.
Dominant genes are UPPER CASE (T)
Recessive genes are lower case (t)
Each parent has two genes for a trait. (TT), (Tt) or
(tt).
There can be a possible four combinations for each
cross.
 Punnett Squares Vocabulary Cont…
GENOTYPE: The gene combination
Homozygous – Pure dominate or pure recessive
Heterozygous – Hybrid a mixed

PHEOTYPE :The physical appearance

Dominate trait
Recessive trait
Combination of two traits (incomplete dominance)
 INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE : Occurs
when two inherited traits combine and show
up as a third trait.
 What is Incomplete Dominance?
-- Occurs Incomplete dominance is a type of
inheritance in which one allele for a
specific trait is not completely dominant
over the other allele. This results in a
combined phenotype (expressed physical
trait).

Example, if you cross pollinate red and

white snapdragon plants, the dominant
allele that produces the red color is not
completely dominant over the recessive
allele that produces the white color. The
resulting offspring are pink.
 Monohybrid cross
(cross with only 1 trait)
Problem:
Using this is a several step process, look at
the following example
Tallness (T) is dominant over shortness
(t) in pea plants. A Homozygous tall plant
(TT) is crossed with a short plant (tt).
What is the genotypic makeup of the
offspring? The phenotypic makeup?
 Punnett process
1. Determine alleles of each
parent, these are given as
TT, and tt respectively.

2. Take each possible allele of

each parent, separate them,
and place each allele either
along the top, or along the
side of the punnett square.
 Punnett process continued
Lastly, write the letter
for each allele across
each column or down
each row.
The resultant mix is the
genotype for the
offspring. In this case,
each offspring has a Tt
(heterozygous tall)
genotype, and simply a
"Tall" phenotype.
 Punnett process continued
Here we have some more
interesting results: First we
now have 3 genotypes (TT,
Tt, & tt) in a 1:2:1
genotypic ratio. We now
have 2 different phenotypes
(Tall & short) in a 3:1
Phenotypic ratio. This is
the common outcome from
such crosses.
 Dihybrid crosses
Dihybrid crosses are made when phenotypes
and genotypes composed of 2 independent
alleles are analyzed.
Process is very similar to monohybrid crosses.
Example:
2 traits are being analyzed
Plant height (Tt) with tall being dominant to
short,
Flower color (Ww) with Purple flowers being
dominant to white.
 Dihybrid cross example
The cross with a pure-breeding (homozygous)
Tall, Purple plant with a pure-breeding
Short, white plant should look like this.

F1 generation
 You don’t look like…..
Have you ever been told that
you resemble one parent more
than the other? The reason
for this may be due to having
received more dominate genes
from the parent you resemble.
However, you receive half of
all your chromosomes and
genes from each parent.

Each parent passes to you 23

chromosomes for a total of 46
chromosomes.
 “Oh’ Boy A Take Home Lab!”
STRATEGY:
You will examine ten of your genetic traits.
You will examine your parents for these same traits.
You can then compare how similar or how different
you are to each parent.

PROCEDURE:
Use the handout that Ms. Olson has given to you to
complete the assigned task (lab). Complete the
column marked YOU for the genetic traits to be
examined. Ask your lab partner to assist you in
describing certain traits that you may not be able to
see, such as ear lobe shape or hair whorl.
 TRAIT DESCRIPTIO YOU FATHER MOTHER
N
Handedness Left or right
TRAIT DESCRIPTIO YOU FATHER MOTHER
N
Sight Nearsighted
or
normal
TRAIT DESCRIPTIO YOU FATHER MOTHER
N
Eye color Blue or not

Brown eyes Blue eyes Green eyes Hazel eyes

TRAIT DESCRIPTIO YOU FATHER MOTHER
N
Dimples Yes or No

Mario Josh
Zinta Jada Smith
Lopez Holloway
TRAIT DESCRIPTIO YOU FATHER MOTHER
N
Freckles Present
or
Absent
TRAIT DESCRIPTIO YOU FATHER MOTHER
N
Allergies Yes or No

Food
Pollen

Animal hair
dander Medication
 TRAIT DESCRIPTION YOU FATHER MOTHER

Hair Whorl Clockwise

or
Counter-clockwise
 TRAIT DESCRIPTION YOU FATHER MOTHER

Ear lobe Free

or
Attached

Unattached

Attached Unattached
Unattached Attached
 TRAIT DESCRIPTION YOU FATHER MOTHER

Eye shape Close set, Deep set,

Hooded, Almond,
Down turned,
Protruding
TRAIT DESCRIPTION YOU FATHER MOTHER

Tongue Roller
or
Non-roller

Rollers