Unit 4 Reflection

        In the Coin Sex Lab, my group and I experimented the pairing of chromosomes to find their genotypes, we also found the probability of the results prior to the lab. We preformed both monohybrid crosses and dihybrid crosses. Each letter represented a different type of gene that was either recessive or dominant. The dropping of the coins represented meiosis. Meanwhile, the coins being put together was the recombination of the alleles, also known as sex. The coins represented the chromosome, with each side representing another chromatids. Most of our expected results came very close to the actual results of the dihybrid cross stimulation. We expected, 9:3:3:1, and instead got 8:3:4:1. Because it was a dihybrid cross, we knew there would be 2 homozygous and 14 heterozygous children. One of the homozygous would have to be a homozygous recessive, meaning there could only be one of those. And the homozygous dominant would be the most common. The limit of using probability to predict our offspring's traits is that the outcomes are affected be so many factors, that not all those factors can be taken in account when finding the probability. In this lab, we learned about how autosomal inheritances and X-linked inheritances affected males and females differently. X-linked inheritances are more probable in males, while autosomal does not favor any gender. This understanding relates to our life, for with this, we could predict using probability on how likely your offspring will be and even whether he/she will have a disorder. It also becomes very important in this time period, for scientist and doctors to treat/ find whether you have any gene linked disorders.

      Overall, in Unit 4, we learned about the basis of genetics. Asexual and sexual reproduction was taught. Asexual is the the cloning of an organism while sexual reproduction requires a mate. While asexuality is more efficient, time wise, sexual reproduction is less vulnerable than asexual organisms. Meiosis is the process in which the chromosomes divide to prepare for sexual reproduction. This occurs in two stages, Meiosis I and Meiosis II. There are two types of alleles, dominant and recessive. A gene can be either heterozygous, one dominant and one recessive, or it can be homozygous, same allele in a pair. Dominant alleles will always be shown and are written as capital letters. While recessive alleles are written with lower case letters and are not shown when it is not homozygous recessive, the dominant alllele dominates the recessive allele.  Autosomal inheritances occur in one of the 22, non-sex chromosomes, while X-linked inheritances happen in the X chromosome of an individual. Men are more likely to be affected by X-linked inheritances while women are typically just carriers. Epistasis is when a gene masks another gene, so that it can not be shown in the phenotype. Epistasis is different from recessive and dominant. Codominance is when two different dominant alleles are equally expressed in both phenotype and genotype. Incomplete dominance is when one trait is not completely expressed nor is the other. Mendel was a great pioneer of genetics, he create the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment. The Law of Independent Assortment stated that the alleles of two get sorted into gametes independently. A allele one gametes gets does not affect the other allele in the gamete. The alleles pair up with the opposite letter and one is dominant out of the pair. While the Law of Segregation is only one of the traits(dominant) gets passed down because the recessive is dominated by the dominant trait. The other trait is not passed down, but only reappears at F2. Helps us predict how one trait will be inherited. The alleles match up with the different letter but the dominants are paired together as the recessive is paired with each other. Through out this unit, my knowledge on genetics grew tremendously. Through this unit, I now understand why we are all how we are and that are genetic difference came equally from our parents' genes. In conclusion, in Unit 4, we were taught about key elements that form the basis of genetics and life. 

Here is a link to my infographic about genetics: https://magic.piktochart.com/output/17876697-new-piktochart