CHAPTER 17.

INHERITANCE
DEFINE INHERITANCE

The transmission of genetic information from

generation to generation. For instance,
personality, capabilities (such as music and
sports), appearance runs in the families. The
characteristics are controlled by genes which
are coded instructions. The study of inheritance
is known as genetics. Genes from one
generation to the next are transmitted in the
gametes. At fertilization, the gamete fuses with
the zygote which contains genetic information
from both parents. A new individual grows from
the zygote-half of its genetic information from
the male parent and the other half is from the
female parent.
DEFINE CHROMOSOME

We cannot see genes under the light

microscope, but we can see chromosomes.
Most cells have nuclei containing
chromosomes.
Chromosomes are visible through a microscope
during cell division.
There are 46 chromosomes in the nucleus of a
human cell. This is called a diploid number.
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They are sorted into pairs based on their sizes

and shapes. It is threadlike structure of DNA,
carrying genetic
information in the form
of genes.

DEFINE GENE

A length of DNA that codes for a protein. Each

chromosome has many genes along its length,
although the actual number of chromosome
depends on its length. You can see that some of
our chromosomes are longer than others. These
chromosomes have larger numbers of genes.
Each gene is a unit of inheritance that codes for
a specific protein. It is a chemical code that the
cell interprets as an instruction to make a protein
molecule. For example, you know about several
proteins such as amylase, lipase and
hemoglobin. There is a gene for each of them
and many more. Humans have between 20 000
and 25 000 different genes. The protein produced
by cell influence how the body works and looks
like. Some gene that is controlled is influenced by
the environment. Your height is determined by
the genes you inherit and the environment that
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you live in. (For example by your diet and how

much you exercise). However, your blood is
determined by a gene and not the environment
at all.

ALL ABOUT DNA

If we could unravel a chromosome, then it would

form an extremely long thread.
That thread contains a long chain molecule called
DNA.
DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid.
The DNA is wound around a protein molecule.
During cell division the DNA and protein are tightly
packed and the chromosome is coiled up.
Sometimes they are uncoiled (less tightly packed) so

the cell can use the information in the DNA.

PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

Each chromosome is made of a long, super coiled

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molecule of DNA.

Each molecule is divided into thousands of shorter

sections called genes.
A gene is a smaller part of a DNA strand.
The length of DNA, making up a particular gene, carries
the information needed to make a particular protein.
Remember that inside every cell there are thousands of
different chemical reactions.
Enzyme control all chemical reactions. All enzymes are
protein. DNA codes for protein, it determines which
enzyme is produced in each cell and therefore which
chemical reaction takes place inside cells.
STRUCTURE OF DNA

Contains bases. The

information is found in the
sequence of bases along the
length of DNA. These
determine the sequences of
amino acid in protein.
USES OF DNA

1. Controls the production of the other proteins.

2. INCLUDING antibodies and receptors for
neurotransmitters.
3. Determines the sequences of amino acids in proteins.
4. DNA carries information to build proteins from amino
acids.
The information moves from the DNA to the site
of protein synthesis in the ribosomes by a
messenger molecule.
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 This molecule is RNA and is given the name

messenger RNA (mRNA).
The role of mRNA is to carry a copy of the base
sequence in the DNA out of the nucleus to the
ribosomes where protein synthesis occurs.
GENETIC CODE

There are four different bases found in the DNA.

We refer to them by their letter A, T, C and G.
Each amino acid is coded for by a sequence of
DNA of three of these bases.
There are about 20 different amino acids and
each is coded by a different base triplet of DNA.
When mRNA copies the code on DNA it does this
by the the rule of base matching.
For instance, C copies G and G will copy C.
However, T does not have a base.
It is replaced by another U (uresil)
A on DNA will code for U on RNA