Bsci103: The World Of Biology

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Cell differentiation

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process by which cells within a single organism become different from one another

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Gene expression

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which genes are transcribed and translated in a cell or organism

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Transcription

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the process of copying RNA and DNA

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Translation

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processes of protein synthesis in which the code in mRNA is used to produce protein by the ribosome

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mutation

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change in the nucleotide sequence of a cell compared with what it inherited from its parent

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Gene or DNA duplication

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segment of DNA or the whole genome appears twice in a duaghter cell or in an offspring

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epigenetics

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changes to DNA that do not change actual sequence of nucleotides. Leads to changes in gene expression

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transcription factors

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proteins that bind to DNA and initiate the transcription of specific genes - increases the rate of transcription of these genes

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DNA condensation

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coiling of DNA into tight configuration that doesn't allow transcription

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DNA methylation

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addition of methyl groups along the DNA molecule that enhances DNA condensation and so turns off the transcription of large segments of DNA

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(non-)coding DNA

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stretches of DNA that (don't) code for protein

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telomere

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stretch of non-coding DNA at each end of that chromosome which allows for the entire chromosome to be copied

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signal molecule

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molecule that binds to the membrane of a cell and changes its function; often activate transcription factors

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alternative mRNA splicing

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removing the non-coding regions from mRNA and splicing together the coding regions

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IVF

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reproductive technology which fertilizes eggs in a glass dish

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Genetic selection

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the process of selecting embryos with specific DNA sequences after the process of IVF

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cloning

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process of producing an organism that's identical in nucleotide sequence to parent organism

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stem cell

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cell has the ability to divide and whose daughter cells can differentiate into any number of different kinds of mature cell types

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Gregor Mendel

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Austrian monk who discovered basics of genetics

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Parent generation

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first parents that are mated in a series of experimental crosses to test the rules of genetics

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F1

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1st gen that results from a cross of the parent generation

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F2

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2nd gen that results from cross of F1

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trait

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inheritable characteristic that can have more than one value

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True breeding

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population of plants that always produce the same value of a trait when crossed with themselves

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Allele

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different forms of the same gene that control a particular trait. each multicellular eukaryotic organism carries two alleles of each gene

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genotype

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alleles that an individual expresses, as a result of the genotype and its interaction with the environment

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phenotype

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the values of a trait that an individual expresses, as a result of the genotype and its interaction with the environment

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homologous chromosomes

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two versions of each chromosome found in a multicellular eukaryote

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common descent

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finding that all species evolve from a common ancestor

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australopithicines

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some of the earliest homonid species, existing about 2-3 mya

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homo erectus

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a group of related homo species that lived between 2 mya and 18,000 ya