REPRODUCTION

AND
INHERITANCE
 Chromosomes
Chromosomes are found in the nucleus of the cell, containing all your genetic
material. They are long lengths of DNA coiled up, with a short section of this being
called a gene.

Human cells are diploid - meaning they have two copies of each chromosome,
arranged in pairs. A human nucleus contains 46 chromosomes in total, counting all
copies of each chromosome. This means that the diploid number for a human is 46

Genes and DNA

DNA is a long list of chemical instructions (genes). They act as codes for a
certain type of protein. Protein is important for the body because they control
most processes, e.g inheritance. There can be different versions of the same
gene called alleles.

A DNA molecule has two strands coiled together in the shape of a double helix
(two spirals). The two strands are held together by chemicals called bases.
There are four different types of bases - adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G)
and thymine (T). These bases are paired, and they always pair up in the same
way - always A-T and C-G. This is called complementary base-pairing.

Protein Synthesis
DNA controls all protein production in a cell. These proteins are made up of chains of
amino acids, varying in number and order of these acids. After creating the chain of
amino acids, they fold up to give each protein a specific size and shape - meaning
each protein can have a different function. It's important to remember:

● A section of DNA coding for a protein is called a gene

● It’s the order of the bases in the DNA that decide the order of amino acids
● Each amino acid is coded by a sequence of 3 bases - this is called a codon

Paper However, DNA can also have sections that don’t actually code for any amino acids,
2 however, these are still involved in protein synthesis. There are two stages in protein
synthesis including:

Transcription
First of all, it's important to know that proteins are made in the cell cytoplasm by
structures called ribosomes, however, DNA (which codes for protein) can’t move out of
the cell nucleus because it is too big. This means that the cell needs to get the
information in the genes to the ribosome in the cytoplasm. This is done through a
molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA). It’s important to know the following things
about mRNA:

● It is shorter than DNA

● Only one single strand, unlike DNA which is two strands
● It contains uracil (U) as a base, instead of thymine (T)

Additionally, transcription uses an enzyme called RNA polymerase to join together

the base sequence, making the mRNA.
 Here is how it works:

1) RNA polymerase binds to a region of

non-coding DNA in front of the desired
gene
2) The two DNA strands unzip and the RNA
polymerase moves along one of the
strands of the DNA
3) It uses the coding DNA in the gene as a
template to make the mRNA. Bases in
the mRNA are always complementary to
the one in the gene.
4) Once made, the mRNA moves out of the
nucleus and joins with a ribosome.
Paper 2
Translation
Once the mRNA is joined with the ribosome, the protein
can start to be assembled. This is called translation and
here’s how it works:

1) Amino acids are brought to the ribosome by

another RNA molecule called transfer RNA (tRNA)
2) The order in which the amino acids are brought to
the ribosome matches the order of the codon in
the mRNA.
3) Part of the tRNA’s structure involves an anticodon -
complementary to the codon in the mRNA
molecule. This pairing makes sure that the amino
acids are brought in the correct order
4) The amino acids are then joined together in a
chain, folding up together to create the protein

Mitosis and Asexual Reproduction

An ordinary cell can make a new cell by simply just dividing itself in two. Both new
cells are genetically identical to the original cell. This is called mitosis and it is
carried out during asexual reproduction, growth and to repair damaged tissues. So
when a diploid cell divides by mitosis, it creates two diploid cells. Here’s how it works:

1) When a cell is not dividing, all it’s DNA is spread out in long
strings

2) If the cell gets a signal to divide, it duplicates its DNA - so there’s

one copy for each chromosome. The DNA forms X-shaped
chromosomes with each one; with each ‘arm’ being an exact
duplicate of the other.

3) The chromosomes then line up at the centre of the cell and cell
fibres pull them apart, each arm going to opposite ends of the
cell.
 4) Membranes form around each set of chromosomes, becoming the nuclei of the
two new cells. Lastly, the cytoplasm divides, forming the two new cells containing
the same DNA.

Meiosis and Sexual Reproduction

Sexual reproduction is where genetic information from two organisms is combined to
produce genetically different offspring. During this reproduction, the mother and the
father produce gametes. Gametes are sperm cells and egg cells. These cells are
haploid, containing 23 chromosomes. At fertilisation, a male gamete fuses with a
female gamete to form a zygote, with 46 chromosomes.

In order to create these gametes in the testes and ovaries, the

body has to undergo a type of cell division called meiosis. This is
how it works:

1) Before the cell starts to divide, it duplicates its DNA. One

arm of each X-shaped chromosome is an exact copy of the
other arm
2) In the first division (there are two divisions), the
chromosomes line up in pairs in the centre of the cell. One
chromosome in each pair came from the organism’s mother
and one came from the father. IMPORTANT - it’s completely
random which side the pairs take, maternal don't just take
the right and vice versa.
3) The pairs are then pulled apart, so each new cell only has
one copy of each chromosome. Some of the father’s
chromosomes go into the new cell and so do some of the
mother’s, however, this mixture is completely random, giving
each cell genetic variation.

4) In the second division, the chromosomes line up again in

the centre of the cell. A Lot like mitosis.
5) Ultimately, you get four haploid gametes, with each gamete
only having a single set of chromosomes. IMPORTANT - they are all genetically
different.

Genetic Diagrams
What genes you inherit controls the characteristics you develop. Some
characteristics are controlled by a single gene, however, most are controlled by
several genes interacting. If the alleles (different versions of the same gene) are
different, you have instructions for two different versions of a characteristic.
However, only one is shown. The version of the characteristic that appears is caused
by the dominant allele. The other allele is called recessive. The characteristic caused
P by the recessive allele only appears if both alleles are recessive.

However, sometimes, neither allele is recessive. This is called codominance. When two
codominant alleles are present, both alleles are expressed (e.g blood group AB is
both the allele of group A and group B)

Your genotype is the alleles you have. Your phenotype is the

characteristic that your genotype expresses. If you’re
homozygous for a trait, you have two of the same alleles for
 that particular gene. If you’re heterozygous for a trait, you have different alleles for
the same trait.

The inheritance of a single characteristic is called monohybrid inheritance. The

diagram on the right shows a monohybrid cross.
You can also draw a type of genetic diagram called a Punnett square. To fill it in, you
have to do the following:

1) Put the possible gametes from one parent down

the side, and those from the other parent along
the top
2) In each middle square, fill in the letters from the
top and side that line up with that square, the

Pa

pair of letters in the middle show the possible combinations of the gametes.

You can also use this type of diagram to work out how codominance works, but don’t
worry, it's pretty straightforward. Here's an example:
All eggs have an X chromosome, but a sperm can have either an X or a Y. Because of
this, there's an equal chance of having either a boy or a girl. This means that sex
determination depends on whether the sperm that fertilises the egg is X or Y.

Variation
Variation just means how animals or plants of the same species look or behave
slightly differently from each other. It's important to know that there are two types of
variation: genotypic and phenotypic.

● Phenotypic Variation is when there are changes in the appearance of the

organism
● Genotypic Variation is when there are changes in the order of the DNA code of
an organism. Organisms can have different genotypes but the same
phenotype.

All of the genetic crosses you have seen have been examples of inheritance involving
single genes. However, many characteristics are controlled by two or more genes
working together, this is called polygenic inheritance. On the contrary, we have
monogenic inheritance which is when a characteristic is controlled by one or a few
genes.

Additionally, there are another two types of variation, these include continuous and
discontinuous variation, what each on means is the following:

● In continuous variation individuals can be anywhere between two extremes,

they are polygenic, they are strongly affected by the environment, the data is
quantitative, the data is represented through histograms. (e.g height, mass,
skin colour, intelligence, blood pressure)
● In discontinuous variation individuals belong to discrete categories, they are
monogenic, the phenotype is not affected by the environment, the data is
qualitative, the data is represented in a bar graph. (e.g eye colour, tongue-
rolling, blood group)