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Today you will be using the website http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/primer/dna.swf

It was designed to teach you some of the basics of Genetics. You will be answering the questions below on a separate piece of paper. You should consider your answers to be a set of notes (possibly to be used on an upcoming open note quiz), so make sure to give detailed answers. It might be a good idea to include a quick sketch for some of the more difficult questions.

1. Starting with the ear canal, list the order of structures discussed, from largest to smallest.
2. What is found in the ear cell that tells it what role it will play in the body?
3. "These molecules encode a detailed set of plans, like a blueprint, for building different pieces of the cell." What molecules are they talking about?
4. Genes tell the cell to make other molecules called what?
5. What do the molecules in question #4 do for the cell? Give an example.

WHAT IS A GENE?

6. We’ve heard genes are blueprints or sets of instructions. What exactly are they instructions for?
7. What is the name of the protein (not the cell) that transports oxygen throughout our body?
8. What causes a person to have sickle cell anemia?
9. Give two more examples of proteins and their functions in our body.

WHAT IS A CHROMOSOME?

10. How can we fit the equivalent of 10,000 meters of DNA into the nucleus of one cell?
11. How many pairs of chromosomes are found in each human somatic cell (not sperm or eggs)?
12. Can you see chromosomes using a microscope? Can you see the double helix structure of the DNA with a microscope?
13. In the example given, do the chromosomes come from a male or female? How do you know?
14. Do all living things have the same number chromosomes?
15. Is it true that the more complicated an organism is, the more pairs of chromosomes they have? Why?/Why not?

WHAT IS INHERITANCE?

16. "If we inherit our traits from our parents’ genes, then why don’t we look exactly like them?"
17. How many total chromosomes does each human parent contribute to their offspring?
18. What process is being demonstrated with the red and green circles each representing the Dad’s chromosomes?
19. How come brothers and sisters with the same parents don’t look exactly alike?

WHAT IS A PROTEIN?

20. How are proteins and cells related to one another? Use an analogy please.
21. One example of what proteins do is to help cells send the "pain" signal to the brain. How do proteins do this?
22. Where do you think proteins come from?
23. How do cells make the proteins they need?
24. What is the first step that happens in the nucleus in order to make a protein?
25. What organelle "reads" the message from the nucleus and makes the specific protein?
26. What happens to the protein after it is made?

WHAT IS MITOSIS/MEIOSIS?

27. About how many cells are in your body?
28. How many cells did you start off as?
29. Why is it necessary for cells to do mitosis?
30. What is the difference between mitosis and meiosis?
31. What is the difference between haploid and diploid cells?
32. Why would we need haploid cells?
33. What is a zygote?
34. How many chromosomes does a human diploid cell have?
35. What has to happen for the zygote to become a child?