M2: HISTORY OF GENETICS Bacteria - Escherichia coli (E.

coli)
- used in ​simple cellular processes
ROLES OF GENETICS such as ​DNA replication
Biology - aided in the ​discovery of insulin
- DNA serves as​ an instructional - DNA replication in the said organism
manual of life is fast
- Human genome consists of ​approx.
20, 000 genes Yeast - Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.
- Each protein carry out all cellular cerevisiae)
processes - used in​ Eukaryotic cellular
Medicine processes​ particularly ​Nuclear
- Aids in ​drug discovery and transport
development
- Assists in ​diagnosis and treatment Worm - Caenorhabditis elegans (C.
- Some ​diseases can be diagnosed elegans)
long before that onset of - used to determine ​genome stability
symptoms​ (ex. ​Huntington’s and DNA-repair mechanisms
Chorea​ - degeneration of brain cells - multi-cellular​ in nature
, ​PKU -​ ​inborn error of metabolism - crucial in the ​establishment of the
that results in decreased metabolism three principal axes of the body
of the amino acid phenylalanine​ ​in
newborn screening) Fruit Fly - Drosophila
- Gene Therapy​ treats or prevents - used in the study of ​behavior and
diseases through the use of genes senses
- aids in ​regenerative biology and
medicine
- used in the ​discovery of sex-linked
traits​ (Thomas Hunt Morgan)
- 75%​ of their genes resemble that of
human diseases

Mouse - Mus
- most complex​ model organism
- used in ​advanced eukaryotic
conditions​ such as the discovery of
cancer and immunity
MODEL GENETIC ORGANISMS
- referred to as ​non-human species Thale Cress - Arabidopsis thaliana (A.
which are used as in vivo models thaliana)
to understand particular biological - used in the study of the g​enetic
phenomena, such as human disease material of plants
and genetic effects
 IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MODEL Cell Theory - Accepted
GENETIC ORGANISMS - all life is composed of cells and cells
arise only from existing cells
- short life cycle - this was proven by: (Robert Hooke,
- large number of progeny Rudolf Virchow, Theodor Schwann,
- ability to thrive in the laboratory Matthias Schleiden, etc.)
environment
- cheap and easy laboratory housing Mendelian Inheritance - Accepted
- traits are inherited in accord with the
THREE MAJOR SUBFIELD OF GENETICS principles of dominance, segregation
and independent assortment
Transmission Genetics - proposed by Gregor Johan Mendel
- tackles the basic principles of (Father of Genetics)
Mendelian Inheritance (focused on
how traits are passed from Pangenesis - Obsolete
parents to offspring on - each part of the body continually
chromosomes) emits its own type of small organic
particles called “gemmules” that
Molecular Genetics aggregated in gonads, contributing
- deals with the ​biochemical nature heritable information to the gametes
of gene molecule​ (DNA) - proposed by Charles Darwin
- involves r​eplication, transcription,
translation, gene regulation Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics -
- if genes would not be able to Obsolete
regulate,​ diseases may arise - acquired traits become incorporated
into hereditary information
Population Genetics - animals could change its physical
- focuses on the heritable pattern of traits to make better use of
entire populations resources (ex: giraffes)
- deals with evolution - proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

EARLY CONCEPTS OF HEREDITY Preformationism - Obsolete

- miniature organism resides in sex
Germ-plasm Theory - Accepted cells
- all cells contain a complete set of - all traits are inherited from one
information parent
- proposed by August Weismann - proposed by Swammerdam and
- heritable information is transmitted Bonnet
only by germ cells in the gonads
(produces sex cells), not by somatic Blending Inheritance - Obsolete
cells - the characteristics acquired by the
offspring is the average of its
parents (genes blend and mix)
 - proposed by Fleeming Jenkin - deduced that DNA is ​helical in
shape
ORIGIN OF MODERN GENETICS
James Watson​ (1928) and​ Francis Crick
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck ​(French, early 19th (1916-2004)
Century) - cracked the molecular structure of
- founder of “​The Inheritance of DNA and explained ​how the
Acquired Characteristics​” which genetic codes were transferred
explains that individuals inherit traits from one generation to another
that are strengthened by their - they were awarded with the​ Nobel
parents Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1962
Charles Darwin​ (English, 1859) - used wired models​ to conform with
- suggested that species can change the measurements that Franklin and
through process of ​natural Wilkins had come up with
selection​ (evolution) - determined that the structure of ​DNA
is double helix
Gregor Mendel​ (Austrian, 1865) - lead to the ​understanding of
- known as the ​Father of Modern mutation and relationship
Genetics between DNA and proteins at a
- experimental discovery of molecular level
inheritance of traits from one
generation to the next​; ​genes as
material foundation of heredity

Thomas Morgan​ (1866-1945)

- located genes at chromosomes
and developed modern genetics
through experiments on Drosophila
- discovered that there are​ sex-linked
traits​ (fruit fly with white eyes) CENTRAL DOGMA OF BIOLOGY (1959)
Replication ​occurs in the ​DNA -​ --- DNA
Oswald Avery​ (1877-1955) undergoes ​Transcription (​ RNA Synthesis)
- discovered in 1944 that ​DNA was --- to produce ​mRNA -​ -- mRNA then
the molecule that contained
undergoes ​Translation (​ Protein Synthesis
genetic information
which occurs in​ ribosomes and rough er​)
Maurice Wilkins​ (1916-2004) and --- to produce ​Protein
Rosalind Franklin​ (1920-1958)
- made the crucial contributions to
Watson and Crick with their
crystallography of DNA
 EVENTS IN GENETICS
1869 1910
- Friedrich Miescher​ identifies - Thomas Hunt Morgan​ proved that
genes are located on the
“​nuclein​”, the nuclei of human white
chromosomes using ​Drosophila​.
blood cells, which we know today as - explained the ​sex limited traits of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA Drosophila​ (mutation of white-eyed
flies)
- the ​WBCs contains the most
genetic material​; thus, they are 1918
used in testings - R.A. Fisher​ begins the study of
quantitative genetics by ​partitioning
1879
phenotypic variance into a
- Walter Flemming​ describes genetic and an environmental
chromosome behavior​ during component
animal cell division 1926
- Hermann J. Muller​ shows that
1900
x-rays induce mutation​ (ex:
- rediscovery of Mendel’s work by cancer)
Robert Correns, Hugo de Vries 1928
- Fred Griffith​ identified that some
and Erich von Tschermak
“​transforming principle​” in
- increased understanding of cells and pneumococcal bacteria
chromosomes
1902
- Archibald Garrod​ discovers that
alkaptonuria​, a human disease, has
a genetic basis
- Walter Sutton​ observes the
segregation of chromosome
during meiosis matched the
Mendel’s law​ (Boveri-Sutton
Chromosome Theory)
1904
- Gregory Baetson​ discovers ​linkage
between genes​; his father, ​William 1941
- George Beadle​ and E ​ dward Tatum
Bateson​, coined the word
explained the​ one gene one
“​genetics​”
 enzyme​ ​hypothesis​ using red - Rosalind Franklin obtained sharp
bread mold (Neurospora crassa) X-ray diffraction photographs of DNA
1944 - using the said photographs, she
- Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod and calculated the dimension of strands
Maclyn McCarty show that DNA can and also deduced that the
transform bacteria, demonstrating phosphates were on the outside of
that DNA is hereditary material what was probably a helical
- they used strands of purified DNA structure
such as this, precipitated from 1953
solutions of cell components, to - James Watson and Francis Crick
perform bacterial transformations determined the structure of the DNA
1950 molecule which led directly to the
- Erwin Chargaff discovered that DNA knowledge of how it replicates
composition is species specific 1965
- Marshall Nirenberg solves the
genetic code, showing that 3 DNA
bases code for one amino acid

1952
- Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
stated that genes are made of DNA
(Transduction)

1972
- Stanley Cohen​ and​ Herbert Boyer
combine DNA from two different
species in vitro, then transform into
bacterial cells (​marks the first DNA
cloning​)
 - clones generally have ​shorter life
span​ than naturally-born organisms
1977
- Frederick Sanger​ develops ​rapid
DNA sequencing techniques
which contributed in the study of the
relatedness of organism and how
they evolve
1989
- Alec Jeffreys​ pioneered ​DNA
fingerprinting
- first to use ​DNA polymorphisms
(paternity, immigration and murder
cases)
- DNA samples are ideally collected
within​ 72 hours​ of an incident
- Polymerase Chain Reaction​ (PCR)
is used in DNA fingerprinting
1996
- first eukaryotic genome​ was
completed (​S. cerevisiae​)
1997
- E. coli genome​ was completed
1998
- C. elegans genome​ was completed
1999
- first human chromosome was
sequenced
2000
- Drosophila genome​ was completed
2001
- sequence of the entire human
genome​ was completed