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A pedigree is a chart or diagram that shows the relationships between members of a family of several generations and can be used to study the inheritance of genetic traits or diseases. A pedigree typically includes information about family members,…
A Punnett square is a graphical representation used in genetics to predict the possible genotypes of offspring resulting from a cross between two parent organisms. It is named after Reginald Punnett, who developed the technique in the early 20th century.…
A reciprocal cross is an experimental technique used in genetics to determine whether the inheritance of a particular trait is affected by the sex of the parent carrying the gene. In a reciprocal cross, two-parent organisms are crossed in two…
Genes that show independent assortment are said to be unlinked. Unlinked genes are genes located on different chromosomes or located far apart on the same chromosome that are unlikely to be inherited together during reproduction. In other words, they are…
The principle of complementation is a fundamental concept in genetics that refers to the ability of two different mutations in the same pathway or biological process to restore a wild-type phenotype when they are present together in the same organism.…
In genetics, outcrossing refers to the breeding of two individuals that are not closely related or those who come from different populations. This is in contrast to inbreeding that involves breeding individuals that are closely related. In plants, outcrossing can…
The P1 (or P) generation, or parental generation, refers to the first set of individuals in a genetic cross that are mated to produce offspring. In a classical Mendelian genetics experiment, the P1 generation is usually comprised of two individuals…
A test cross is a genetic cross between an individual with a dominant phenotype (but an unknown genotype) and a homozygous recessive individual. The is to determine the genotype of the dominant individual. The offspring of a testcross is used…
Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that can move from one location in the genome to another. They are also known as “jumping genes,” TEs can cause genetic variation and are found in the genomes of most organisms, from bacteria…
Penetrance refers to the proportion of individuals with a particular genotype (genetic makeup) able to exhibit the corresponding phenotype (observable traits or characteristics). In other words, it is the likelihood that a genetic variant will be expressed (as a particular…