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Modern Genetics
Beyond Mendel and his rules

Post-Mendel:
Mendel described traits as either being DOMINANT or recessive.
Scientists would later begin to find that heredity was more complex and that
many kinds of inheritance existed outside of Mendel’s original set of rules and
patterns.

Hey, but Too bad

I like my human, it’s
pea time to for an
plants update.

Homologous - chromosomes that code for the same

chromosome traits (one from each parent)
Alleles - a different form of a gene
Homozygous - having two of the same alleles for a
certain
trait. (two dominant
alleles or two recessive)
Heterozygous - having two different alleles for a certain
trait
 3 Rule Breakers
Heredity that doesn’t follow Mendel’s rules

Polygenic Inheritance:
This is a type of multiple-gene, non-Mendelian inheritance
where a trait is controlled by more than one gene. As a result
there are typically many phenotypes. (poly = multiple)

Examples:
Human : height, weight, eye color, skin
color, etc.
Human skin color
Human eye color
 Incomplete Dominance (blending):
Non-Mendelian inheritance where neither allele is truly
dominant. As a result, the heterozygous phenotype ends up being
a mixture of the two phenotypes rather than one or the other.

Snapdragon flower color

Note: The above are examples of how complicated polygenic

inheritance can be and
how many different phenotypes can result from
combining many genes for a trait

Note: The above is an example where the hybrid expresses a mixture of

the
pure dominant and pure recessive color.
RED (dominant) + WHITE (recessive) = PINK (hybrid)
 Codominance:
Non-Mendelian inheritance where there are TWO different
dominant alleles and a recessive allele for the trait. Because of
this, each dominant allele is always expressed making more
phenotypes possible and a heterozygous genotype where both
dominant alleles are expressed at the same time!

Examples:
One example of this is found in cows
where the hybrid has both brown and
white patches of fur. In humans, blood
type is codominant with an AB blood
type having both types of proteins

Dominant
Alleles
A B
I I

recessive
Allele
 Transfusion Problem:

Blood types need to match to a degree during a transfusion to

prevent the immune system from identifying the new red
blood cells as “non-self” and attacking them. If a protein is
present that the system does not recognize, the results will be
unfavorable.

Which blood types can be mixed together without changing the

blood?
If the blood color is changed, the immune system will attack!
i

Note: Red blood cells can have two different types of protein on them
or no proteins at all.
The dominant allele is shown with the
capital “I” but there are two different “I” alleles, A and B. Each
one produces a different protein for the red blood cell. The
recessive allele creates no proteins, hence the name type O for
Blood Type: A B AB
O

Which blood types can safely be mixed with A type blood?

Which blood types can safely be mixed with B type blood?

Which blood types can safely be mixed with AB type blood?

Which blood types can safely be mixed with O type blood?

Note:
Since blood type AB has both dominant alleles and produces both types of
proteins, it can
accept blood from anyone and the immune system will not respond.
(universal acceptor)
Since blood type O has none of the proteins as it has no dominant alleles,
it can be given to
anyone during a transfusion. (universal donor)
 Karyotypes

A karyotype is essentially all of the chromosomes

(genome) from the nucleus of a diploid cell. In many cases it
is a picture of homologous chromosomes placed in size
order with the sex chromosomes at the end.

Remember that the typical number of chromosomes is 23 pairs or 46

biological sex

XX =
femal
e
Xy =
male

Sex
Chromoso
mes
 Pedigree Charts
Note: The last“Looking
pair of homologous
at the hereditychromosomes
in a family” are called the sex
chromosomes.
Biological sex can be determined by the combination
seen here. The “y” chromosome is much shorter than the “X”, so it
Pedigreeischarts
easy toare
telldiagrams
them apart.
that show how a particular trait is
passed down from generation to generation. It is like a family tree for
genetic traits.

Marrie
Genetic d Disorders
Problems with
the genes == XX
Xy
Generation 1

Generation 2

Siblings (age order)

Generation 3

Note: A filled in square or circle on this kind of chart usually indicates that
person is
expressing the trait being studied (showing the phenotype)
 Genetic Disorders are diseases or problems resulting from a faulty
or incorrect genetic code. Because of this, these kinds of problems are
passed down from generation to generation.

Two types of genetic disorders:

Recessive Disorder:
A disorder that is only expressed in the homozygous recessive
genotype. The
recessive allele causes the disorder. A person who has the
recessive allele but who does not have the disorder is called a
carrier. They will have the heterozygous genotype.

Example: Cystic fibrosis, albinism, sickle

cell,
Alzheimer’s disease, etc.

Sex-Linked Disorder:
A disorder of the “X” sex chromosome. A non- functioning
copy of
the “X” chromosome will cause the disorder. As a result,
they are more frequently found in males since males only have
one “X” chromosome

Example: red-green color blindness,

hemophilia,
Duchenne muscular dystrophy,

Recessive Disorders
Questions:

1. How many children did the 1st generation have?

2. How many children did the 2nd generation have?

3. How many people are expressing the trait for Alzheimer’s?

4. How many grandchildren does generation 1 have?

5. How many people are carriers of the Alzheimer’s trait?

Note: Recessive disorders only appear in the homozygous recessive,

so typically you
will not find a large number of them in a
familySex-Linked
tree unless there areDisorders
many heterozygous individuals
(carriers). Individuals afflicted will be evenly spread out
among males and females.
Note: It is important to see here that since the disorder is on the sex
chromosomes, you are seeing “X’s” and “Y’s” in the genotype. The actual
allele is on the “X” chromosome, in this case represented by the letter “B”.
The normal allele is dominant and capital B while the disorder causing
recessive allele is lower case b.
The only way to show the disorder is to not have a dominant, normal “X”
chromosome.

Questions:

1. How many children did the 1st generation have?

2. How many people are expressing the disorder?
3. How many people are carriers for Color-Blindness?
4. How many males have Color-Blindness?
5. How many females have Color-Blindness?

Note: The easiest way to determine if a disorder is sex-linked or

recessive is to look at who
is expressing the disorder in the pedigree
chart. If you notice that the number of males affected by the
disorder is drastically higher than in females, it is probably a sex-
linked genetic disorder. Again, this is because the recessive allele
is on the “X” chromosome, and males only have one “X”
chromosome. Females can carry the recessive allele without
expressing it.
 GMOs and genetic Engineering
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs):
GMOs are organisms that have had their genetics altered by a
controlled process causing desired traits to become more prevalent.
Genetic modification can be achieved using methods like selective
breeding and genetic engineering.
Genetic Engineering:
Genetic engineering involves the direct altering of the genes in an
organism. It is a complicated process but basically the desirable gene is
“cut” out of an organism’s genome and then spliced into another
organism's DNA. The “new” organism now has this desirable gene, will
express it, and then have the desirable trait.

Selective breeding:
We will discuss this process more in the next unit. Basically, this is
a method to force evolution of a species to happen by choosing the
organisms that are allowed to mate (breed). By doing this, one can
“select” which traits get passed down while undesirable traits do not
continue since those organisms are not bred. Over time the species
changes. Many examples of this exists in the food we eat from cows,
chicken, corn, various fruit , etc.
Note: All GMOs have changes in their DNA. In one case it is through
breeding and
the other through laboratory procedures. The purpose
of this modification is to strengthen the species and in most
cases, help humans. GMOs are not dangerous and are not linked
Summary