Module 11
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angelo aquinoModule 11
Uploaded by
angelo aquinoMODULE 11
THE ROLE OF GENES IN HEREDITY
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to
• Explain the role of genes in heredity;
• Demonstrate one’s understanding of key terms; and
• Show in life ‘situations genes’ importance in education.
INTRODUCTION
HEREDITY is the passing on of the traits from parents to their offspring, either through asexual
production or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information
of their parents, through heredity, variations between individuals can accumulated and cause
species to evoke by natural selection. The study of heredity is biology of genetics.
THE ROLE OF GENES IN HEREDITY
TheJ heredity information is contained or within the genes, located in the chromosomes of each
J An inherited trait can be determined by one or by many genes and a single gene can influence
cell.
J than one trait. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes in the nucleus.
more
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Heredity factors known as genes are thought to exist as discrete portions (known as loci) of
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chromosomes. The term “discrete” refers to the concept that genes are always located at the same
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point or locus on a chromosome.
It Lis believed that pairs of homologous chromosomes contain linear, matching arrangements of
genes exerting parallel control over the same traits. Pairs of genes that exercise such parallel
control over the same traits are known as alleles, which are two kinds: dominant and recessive.
Genetic characteristics can be extremely complex and may require the actions of several separate
genes to be expressed in the adult organism. An example of traits that require more than a single
pair of genes to be expressed are human height and human color. Other traits may be controlled
by a single pair of genes. Some of these traits may have extreme phenotypes, such as albinism
(lack of skin pigment) in humans.
Common genetic disorder
• Down syndrome
• Sickle cell disease
• Phenyl ketonuria (PKU)
• Hemophilia
Each of our gene codes contains unique protein and each protein has a separate and distinct
function to perform in the cell.
GENE MUTATIONS
Genes are segments of DNA molecules. Any alteration of the DNA sequence is a mutation.
Usually, an individual cell’s altered gene will be passed on to every cell that develops from it.
Gene mutations may be defined as being any changes in the nitrogenous base sequence of a
molecule DNA. When the base sequence of DNA altered, the amino acid sequence of the
polypeptide for which it codes will likewise be altered. Such an alteration may affect the operation
of the resulting enzyme, preventing it from properly catalyzing its reaction and thus preventing a
trait from being expressed by the cell. The majority of gene mutations are harmful because they
result in the cell being impaired from performing some specific task. In rare cases, a mutation may
result in a lethal gene that kills the cell either by producing a substance toxic to the cell or by failing
to produce a protein of vital importance to the cell.
Gene mutations are passed to every cell that arises from the mutated. If the mutation occurs in
somatic (body) tissues, its defect is limited to the tissues immediately surrounding the mutated
cell. If the mutation occurs in a primary sex cell, it passed on to the offspring that result from
fertilization of or by gametes produced from the primary sex cell. A mutation can enter the gene
pool of a population and be passed on to succeeding generations. This is known to be a cause of
variation in a species.
On the other hand, DNA is a polymer made up of a repeating chemical unit known as the
NUCLEOTIDE. Thousands of the units are known to comprise a single DNA molecules, making it
one of the largest of all organic compounds.
DNA exists in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of different forms, depending on the precise
arrangement of nucleotides in the molecule. Its variability is the key to genetic variation in living
things.
DNA nucleotides themselves are quite complex, being composed of three separate subunits:
• Phosphate group- a chemical group made up of phosphorous and oxygen
• Deoxyribose a five-carbon sugar made up of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen
• Nitrogenous base a chemical unit composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
Bases found in DNA are adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G)
you ever written a secrete message to one of your friends? If so, you may have used a CODE to
keep the message hidden. For instance, you may have replaced i the letters of the word with
numbers or separable, following a particular set of rules. In order for your friends to understand
the message, they would need to know the code and apply the same set of rules, in reverse, to
decode it.
Decoding messages is also a keep step in gene expression, in which information from a gene is
read out to build a protein. Genetic code allows DNA & RNA sequences to be "decoded into amino
acids of a protein.
DNA CODE
The chemical and structural properties of DNA are the bases for how the genetic information that
underlies heredity is both encoded in genes (as string of a molecular bases) and replicated by
means of template. As we recall the DNA is a complex organic molecule composed of thousands
of repeating nucleotide molecules and that each nucleotide carries with it one of our nitrogenous
bases. The particular sequence of nitrogenous bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine
(A,T,C and G) comprise a strand of DNA and providing the type of chemical code that is
understood by the chemical mechanisms of the cell. The DNA code is used by these mechanisms
to manufacture specific enzymes and other proteins through the process of protein synthesis.
A DNA strand provides a template (pattern)for the formation of messenger RNA(mRNa). The DNA
code is transcribed (read) by mRNa as the latter is synthesized in a pattern complementary to the
DNA strand. The process by which the DNA code is transferred to mRNA code is known as
transcription.
RNA molecules, uracil(U) nucleotides are substituted for DNA’s thymine (T).
Each group of the three nitrogenous bases, known as a triplet codon, provides the information
necessary to code for the insertion of a single, specific amino acid into building protein molecule.
The particular sequence of triplet codons on DNA (and transcribed to MRNA) enables amino acids
to be linked together in a specific sequence during protein synthesis.
In conclusion DNA is not merely a molecule with a pattern, it is a CODE, a language, and an
information STORAGE.
MODULE 11
ASSESSMENT TASK
1. Explain the role of genes in heredity;
2. Define the following:
a. DNA Code
b. DNA Replication
c. Transcription
d. Translation
3. List all the physical features and/or behavior you have
as seen or observe with your parents.
Example: curly hair-from my father