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88 Cards in this Set
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- Back
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A method of DNA technology that uses the DNA polymerase enzyme to make multiple copies of a targeted sequence of DNA
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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
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A condition in which an organism has three or more complete sets of chromosomes (rather than the usual two). Can cause new species to form rapidly without geographic isolation.
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Polyploidy
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An ancient supercontinent that contained all of the worlds landmasses that formed 250 million years ago and began to break apart 200 million years ago
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Pangaea
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An individual into which a modified gene or other DNA sequence has been inserted, typically with the intent of improving some aspect of the receipients performance
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Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)
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All the DNA of an organism, including its genes; in eukaryotes, this term refers to a haploid set of chromosomes, such as that found in sperm or egg
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Genome
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A process in which alleles are sampled at random over time, as when chance events cause certain alleles to increase or decrease in a population. The genetic makeup of a population undergoing changes at random over time , rather than being shaped in a nonrandom way by natural selection
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Genetic Drift
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A drop in the size of a population that results in low genetic variation or causes harmful alleles to reach a frequency of 100 percent in the population
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Genetic Bottleneck
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A copy of a gene or other DNA sequence
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Clone (of a gene)
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A genetically identical copy of an individual organism, as produced by reproductive cloning
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Clone (of an organism)
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Evolutionary change that occurs when natural selection causes distantly related organisms to evolve similar structures in response to similar environmental challenges
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Convergent Evolution
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The movement of Earth's continents over time
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Continental Drift
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A member of a group of mammal-like reptiles from which the earliest mammals arose, roughly 220 million years ago
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Cynodont
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A process in which only individuals that possess certain characteristics are allowed to breed; used to guide the evolution of crop plants and domestic animals in ways that are advantageous for humans
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Artificial Selection
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The formation of new species from populations that are geographically isolated from one another
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Allopatric Speciation
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A characteristic of an organism that improves that organisms preformance in it's environment
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Adaptation
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An evolutionary expansion in which a group of organisms takes on new ecological roles and forms new species and higher taxonomic groups
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Adaptive Radiation
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Of or referring to a characteristic shared by two groups of organisms because of convergent evolution, not common descent
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Analogous
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The variety of organisms on Earth or in a particular location, ranging from the genetic variation and behavioral diversity of individual organisms or species through the diversity of ecosystems
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Biodiversity
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A type of natural selection in which individuals with either extreme of an inherited characteristic have an advantage over an individual with an intermediate phenotype, as when both small and large animals produce more offspring than medium-sized individuals
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Disruptive Selection
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A type of natural selection in which individuals with one extreme of an inherited characteristic have an advantage over other individuals in a population, as when large individuals produce more offspring than small and medium-sized individuals
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Directional Selection
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An action or function of an ecosystem that provides a benefit to humans, such as pollination by insects or water filtration by wetlands
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Ecosystem Service
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An effort to breed better humans by encouraging the reproduction of people with certain genetic characteristics and discouraging the reproduction of people with other characteristics
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Eugenic Movement
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A genetic bottleneck that results when a small group of individuals from a larger source population establishes a new population far from the original population
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Founder Effect
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Of or referring to a characteristic shared by two groups of organisms because of their descent from a common ancestor
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Homologous
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To cause hybrid offspring to be produced
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Hybridize
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An evolutionary mechanism in which those individuals in a population that possess particular inherited characteristics survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals in a population because of those characteristics.
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Natural Selection
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A type of natural selection in which individuals that differ in inherited characteristics differ, as a result of those characteristics, in their ability to get mates
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Sexual Selection
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A type of natural selection in which individuals with intermediate values of an inherited characteristic have an advantage over other individuals in the population, as when medium-sized individuals produce offspring at a higher rate than small or large individuals
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Stabilizing Selection
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The formation of new species from populations that are not geographically isolated from one another
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Sympatric Speciation
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in genealogy, any person to whom two or more persons claim descent; also, the most recent ancestral form or species from which two different species evolved
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Common Ancestor
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The use of DNA analysis to identify individuals and determine the relatedness of individuals.
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DNA fingerprinting
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Base pairing of DNA from two different sources.
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DNA hybridization
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A collection of an organism's DNA fragments that is stored in a host organism, such as a bacterium.
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DNA library
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A short segment of DNA used in PCR amplification that is designed to pair with one of the two ends of the gene being cloned by PCR.
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DNA primer
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A short sequence of DNA (usually tens to hundreds of bases long) that can pair with a particular gene or other specific region of DNA.
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DNA probe
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The set of techniques that scientists use to manipulate DNA.
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DNA technology
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A process in which DNA fragments are placed in a gelatin-like substance (a gel) and subjected to an electrical charge, which causes the fragments to move through the gel. Small DNA fragments move farther than large DNA fragments, thus causing the fragments to separate by size.
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gel electrophoresis
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A treatment approach that seeks to correct genetic disorders by repairing the genes that cause them.
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gene therapy
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A three-step process in which a DNA sequence (often a gene) is isolated, modified, and inserted back into an individual of the same or a different species. commonly used to change the performance of the genetically modified organism, as when a crop plant is engineered to resist attack from an insect pest.
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genetic engineering
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An enzyme that can connect two DNA fragments to each other; used in DNA technology when a gene from one species is inserted into the DNA of another species.
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ligase
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A small circular segment of DNA found naturally in bacteria. are involved in natural gene transfers among bacteria and can be used as vectors in genetic engineering.
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plasmid
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A technology used to produce an offspring that is an exact genetic copy (a "clone") of another individual. The first two steps are the same as those in therapeutic cloning, but stem cells are not removed from the embryo. Instead, the embryo is transferred to the uterus of a surrogate mother, where, if all goes well, the birth of a healthy offspring ultimately results; this offspring is genetically identical to the individual who provided the donor nucleus.
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reproductive cloning
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Any of a number of enzymes that cut DNA molecules at a specific target sequence; a key tool of DNA technology.
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restriction enzyme
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A method of DNA technology in which restriction enzymes are used to cut an organism's genome into small pieces, which are sorted by size using gel electrophoresis. Next, a DNA probe is used to form a profile, whose pattern depends on the number and size of the fragments that can bind to the probe.
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RFLP analysis
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A technology used to produce stem cells in which the (haploid) nucleus of an unfertilized egg cell is replaced with the (diploid) nucleus of a nonreproductive donor cell, such as a skin cell. Next, chemicals are used to stimulate the egg to divide so that it begins to form an embryo. Finally, stem cells are removed from the developing embryo and stimulated to grow into a wide range of human cell types.
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therapeutic cloning
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In DNA technology, a piece of DNA that is used to transfer a gene or other DNA fragment from one organism to another.
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vector
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Change over time in a lineage of organisms.
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evolution
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Preserved remains of or an impression of a formerly living organism. document the history of life on Earth, showing that past organisms were unlike living forms, that many organisms have gone extinct, and that life has evolved through time.
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fossil
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The rise and fall of major taxonomic groups due to evolutionary radiations that bring new groups to prominence and mass extinctions in which groups are lost; the history of large-scale evolutionary changes over time.
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macroevolution
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Changes in allele or genotype frequencies in a population over time; the smallest scale at which evolution occurs.
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microevolution
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The form and structure of an organism.
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morphology
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The process by which one species splits to form two or more species that are reproductively isolated from one another.
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speciation
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A structure or body part that served a purpose in an ancestral species, but is currently of little or no use to the organism that has it
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vestigial organs
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The proportion (percentage) of a particular allele in a population.
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allele frequency
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The removal from a population of all alleles at a genetic locus except one; the allele that remains has a frequency of 100 percent.
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fixation
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The exchange of alleles between populations.
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gene flow
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The genetic differences among the individuals of a population.
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genetic variation
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The proportion (percentage) of a particular genotype in a population.
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genotype frequency
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A collective term for the processes of fertilization, crossing-over, and independent assortment of chromosomes, all of which result in new combinations of alleles.
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recombination
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The process by which natural selection improves the match between organisms and their environment over time.
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adaptive evolution
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The physical separation of populations from one another by a barrier such as a mountain chain or a river. often causes the formation of new species, as when populations of a single species become physically separated from one another and then accumulate so many genetic differences that they become reproductively isolated from one another.
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geographic isolation
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An offspring that results when two different species mate.
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hybrid
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A condition in which barriers to reproduction prevent or strongly limit two or more populations from reproducing with one another. Many different kinds of reproductive barriers can result in but it always has the same effect: no or few genes are exchanged between the populations.
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reproductive isolation
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A species whose populations loop around a geographic barrier (such as a mountain chain) and in which the populations at the two ends of the loop are in contact with one another, yet cannot interbreed.
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ring species
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The process by which one species splits to form two or more species that are reproductively isolated from one another.
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speciation
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A group of interbreeding natural populations that is reproductively isolated from other such groups.
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species
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A major increase in the diversity of life on Earth that occurred about 530 million years ago, during the period. lasted 5 to 10 million years; during this time large and complex forms of most living animal phyla appeared suddenly in the fossil record.
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Cambrian explosion
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A mass extinction that occurred 65 million years ago, wiping out many marine invertebrates and terrestrial plants and animals, including the last of the dinosaurs.
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Cretaceous extinction
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An event during which large numbers of species become extinct throughout most of Earth.
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mass extinction
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The largest mass extinction in the history of life on Earth; it occurred 250 million years ago, driving up to 95 percent of the species in some groups to extinction.
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Permian extinction
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An unstable, radioactive form of an element that decays to more stable forms at a constant rate over time.
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radioisotope
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The habitat in the branches of forest trees.
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canopy
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A species that is in danger of extinction.
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endangered species
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A characteristic place or type of environment in which an organism lives.
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habitat
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The mass of plant matter that can be produced in a given area from the available nutrients and sunlight.
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productivity
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A forest that receives high rainfall.
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rainforest
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A species that requires very specific conditions to survive, such as an insect that can eat only one kind of plant, as opposed to being able to eat and survive on many different kinds of plants.
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specialist
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A field of scientific study that analyzes and compares the genomes of multiple species.
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comparative genomics
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The examination of an individual's genes to assess current or future health risks and status.
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genetic screening
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The study of the structure and expression of entire genomes and how they change during evolution.
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genomics
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A publicly funded effort on the part of an international consortium created by the U.S. National Institutes for Health and the U.S. Department of Energy to determine the sequence of the human genome.
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Human Genome Project (HGP)
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A single-base-pair difference among the genomes of individuals.
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single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
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Of or referring to an organism that walks upright on two legs.
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bipedal
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Any of a group of primates that encompasses humans and our now extinct humanlike ancestors.
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hominid
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A hypothesis stating that anatomically modern humans evolved from Homo erectus populations scattered throughout the world. According to this idea, worldwide gene flow caused different human populations to evolve modern characteristics simultaneously and to remain a single species.
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multiregional hypothesis
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In primates, of or referring to a thumb (or big toe) that moves freely and can be placed opposite other fingers (or toes).
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opposable
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A hypothesis stating that anatomically modern humans evolved in Africa within the past 200,000 years, then spread throughout the rest of the world. According to this idea, as they spread from Africa, modern humans completely replaced older forms of Homo sapiens, including advanced forms such as the Neanderthals.
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out-of-Africa hypothesis
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An order of mammals whose living members include lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, humans, and other apes. share characteristics such as flexible shoulder and elbow joints, opposable thumbs or big toes, forward-facing eyes, and brains that are large relative to body size.
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primate
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