Genetics & Inheritance
Grade 12 Life Sciences Notes
Prepared by Mr Ntanda
2025
Terminology
• Gene - a segment of DNA in a chromosome that contains the code for a
particular characteristic
• Alleles – Alternative/Different forms of a gene found at the same locus
on homologous chromosomes. e.g., Tall plant(T), short plant(t)
• Genotype -genetic composition of an organism.
• Phenotype - the physical appearance of an organism based on the
genotype
• Homozygous - two identical alleles for a particular characteristic, e.g.,
TT or tt
• Heterozygous - two different alleles for a particular characteristic, e.g. Tt
Terminology
• Dominant allele - an allele that is expressed (shown) in the
phenotype.
• Recessive allele - an allele that is masked (not shown) in the
phenotype
Terminology
• monohybrid cross - only one characteristic or trait is shown in the
genetic cross.
• Dihybrid cross -two different characteristics shown in genetic
cross
Mendel’s law of Dominance
If the pair of alleles are different (one dominant, one recessive), the
phenotype will only show the dominant trait, the recessive allele
will be masked.
Mendel’s law of Dominance
Types of Dominance
• Complete dominance – one allele is dominant, and the other is
recessive, such that the effect of the recessive allele is masked
by the dominant allele in the heterozygous condition.
• Incomplete dominance – neither one of the two alleles of a
gene is dominant over the other, resulting in an intermediate
phenotype in the heterozygous condition
• Co-dominance – both alleles of a gene are equally dominant
whereby both alleles express themselves in the phenotype in
the heterozygous condition
Genetic crosses
Genetic cross with Complete dominance
• Ex.1 Seeds can be round or wrinkled. Use a genetic cross to show the genotype
and the phenotype of the F1 generation when two heterozygous plants with
round seeds are crossed. The allele for round seeds is dominant over the allele
for wrinkled seed. Use the letter R for round and r for wrinkled seeds.
• Ex. 2 Mendel crossed homozygous plants with green seeds with homozygous
plants which had yellow seeds and found that all the offspring were yellow.
• Ex.3 The ability to roll one’s tongue (Figures 4 and 5) is a dominant
characteristic. Explain (without a genetic diagram) why it is possible for a non-
roller child to be born to parents who can both roll their tongues. Use the letters
R and r in your answer.
Genetic cross with Incomplete dominance
• If tail length in cats is an incompletely dominant trait. What would
be resulting offspring of a cross between a long tailed cat(HH) and
with a short tailed cat(hh) be?
• If a flower colour in orchids is an incompletely dominant trait,
where homozygous individuals are blue(HH) or yellow(hh) in
colour. What would a cross between two green(Hh) orchids
produce?
Genetic cross with co-dominance
• Ex.1 In cattle three color variations are possible : red, white or red
and white in patches. This comes about due to a red allele (R) and
a white allele (W) for coat color. Do a genetic cross between a red
bull and a white female to show the possible offspring
Sex determination genetic cross
• Ex.1 A couple has three sons, and the woman is pregnant again.
Show by means of a genetic cross what the percentage chance is
of the couple having a baby girl.
Multiple Alleles- Blood type/group
• There are four blood types in humans: A, B, AB or O. phenotypes
are controlled by three alleles, but each person still inherits
two alleles.
• IA is co-dominant to IB whereas i is recessive to both
Monohybrid cross using blood types
• A man and a woman both have blood group B. Use a genetic cross
to show how it is possible for them to have a child with blood
group O.
• If the child has blood group O and the mother blood group A,
could the man with blood group AB be the father of that child?
Use a genetic diagram to explain your answer.
Sex-linked inheritance
• There are a few characteristics carried on the gonosomes only.
Sex-linked disorders
• Colour blindness caused by a recessive allele (Xb) for colour-
blindness
• Example. An unaffected factor father is crossed with a carrier mother,
determine their offsprings.
Sex-linked inheritance
• Haemophilia - is the inability of the blood to clot due to lack of a
blood clotting factor. (Xh) for haemophilia.
• Men who have only one X chromosome, have a greater risk of
inheriting these disorders
• If a woman inherits one X chromosome with the recessive allele, she
is called a carrier as she does not show signs of the disorder but can
pass it on to her children.
• Example. A male with Haemophilia crossed with female non-carrier
• Example : A male with Haemophilia crossed with female carrier
• Example : A normal male crossed with female carrier
How to explain this type of inheritance.
• Step 1 : State the Mother’s and father’s Genotype.
• Step 2 : State the Genotype of the offspring
• Step 3 : Explain how you inherit one allele from each parent
Males : Inherit only “Y” chromosome from the father and “X”
chromosome from their mother.
Females: Inherit an “X” chromosome from their mother and another
from their father.
Why males are affected mostly by sex-linked diseases ?
Because males only have one “X” chromosome, they are more likely to
inherit the disease as they do not have another “X” chromosome to
mask it.
ACTIVTY: SEX LINKED DISEASES
Interpretation Questions
Genetic lineage (Pedigree diagrams)
• A pedigree diagram (also called a family tree) is used to study the
inheritance of characteristics in a family over several generations.
Interpretation of the pedigree
▪ Squares represent males and circles represent females
▪ Shaded shape shows an affected individual or that has that trait
The are 4 patterns of pedigree analysis
▪ Dominant (More individuals and every generation is affected)
▪ Recessive (Few individuals, It skips generations)
▪ Autosomal (Affects both genders almost equally)
▪ X-linked (Affects a particular gender)
Pedigree Analysis
Interpretation
Autosomal Dominant
• Both males & Females are affected
• Affected Children usually have an
affected parent
• Two affected parents can produce
an unaffected child.
• Two unaffected parents will not have
affected children
Pedigree
Analysis
Autosomal recessive
• It affects both genders almost
equally
• Two unaffected parents can
have an affected child
• Two affected parents will
always have affected children.
Is it A-D or A-R?
Is it A-D or A-R?
Dihybrid crosses
• Dihybrid crosses involve two pairs of alleles representing two different
characteristics.
Example 1: In pea plants, the allele for tallness (T) is dominant and the
allele for shortness (t) is recessive. The allele for purple flowers is
dominant (P) and the allele for white flowers is recessive (p). Two plants,
heterozygous for both tallness and purple flowers were crossed.
Example 2: n humans the allele for short fingers (brachydactyly – a
shortening of the fingers and toes), represented by B, is dominant over
the allele for normal fingers (b). The allele for curly hair (H) is dominant
over the allele for straight hair (h). Andrew, with genotype Bbhh, married
Susan, with genotype bbHh.
Mutations
Types of Mutations
• Gene Mutation - Gene mutations occur during replication if a base
pair is added, left out or doubled up. Ex. Haemophile, Color
blindness, Albinism,
• Chromosomal mutation - Chromosome aberrations occur during
Anaphase I if the chromosomes of a bivalent do not separate. Ex.
Down syndrome
Gene Mutation
• Point Mutation – genetic change that occurs at a single
nucleotide in DNA or RNA sequence. This involves substitution,
insertion, deletion of a single base.
• Frame Shift Mutation – insertion or deletion of more than one
nucleotide in a DNA sequence.
Chromosomal mutation
• Changes in normal number and structure of chromosome
Effect of mutation
• Harmless mutation: have no effect on the structure or functioning of the
organism. Also known as neutral or silent mutation.
• Useful mutation: advantageous to the organisms and may be passed on from
parents to their offspring.
• Harmful mutation: causes genetic disorders. i.e. Down syndrome,
Haemophile, Albinism
Mutations
• A mutation is caused by a permanent change to the DNA of a cell
Effect of Mutations
• Harmless - involve changes to the non-coding DNA. This DNA is not
involved in making proteins.
• Harmful -change the DNA responsible to produce a specific protein.
may cause a genetic disorder.
• Useful - change the DNA responsible to produce a specific protein. If
the protein made increases the organism’s chance of survival, it
would be seen as a useful mutation. If the gene is passed on, it will lead
to genetic variation that is advantageous to the individual.
Genetic Engineering
Biotechnology
Biotechnology
• The manipulation of biological processes to satisfy human needs
Stem cell technology
▪ Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that could grow into any tissue
in the body
▪ Source of Stem cells
• Embryonic stem cells -obtained from inner cell mass of an early
embryo (blastocyst) .
• Foetal stem cells – can be obtained from the foetus of a terminated
pregnancy.
• Adult stem cells – obtained from organs or tissues in the body that
have already undergone development e.g., bone marrow, brain,
muscle etc
Stem cell technology
• Uses
• They can be used to replace
diseased or damaged cells in an
organism
• They are used in treating diseases
like cancer, osteoporosis, sickle cell
anemia etc.
Genetically modified organisms(Cloning)
• Cloning is the natural or artificial process of creating a genetically identical
copy of an organism or biological material.
Process of Cloning
• Sheep A is the superior animal to be cloned and Sheep B is inferior.
• An egg cell from sheep B is taken and the nucleus is removed.
• A body (somatic) cell from the genetically superior sheep (sheep A) is
collected.
• The nucleus with DNA from cell A is removed and placed into the “empty” egg
cell B.
• The egg cell now has DNA from the superior sheep A and will grow into an
embryo.
• The embryo is then placed into the uterus of a surrogate or foster mother (sheep
C) and should develop to full term.
Example of a cloning