how genetic traits are passed from parents to offspring
The study of genetics allows us to understand how genetic traits are passed from parents to offspring. Surprisingly, a child may resemble his parents, but the gene traits between them end up vary in appearance or molecular function. For example, a situation where both a father and mother has normal color vision can end up producing a son with red-green colourblindness. My point is DNA carries hereditary information, but before DNA was discovered “it was believed that proteins carried the hereditary information passed from parents to offspring.” 10. The work of Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty brought to light on how DNA was molecule responsible for the genetic transformation. This was after they researched in the lab that involved an association between nucleic acids and pneumonia bacterial strains.
After the discovery of DNA, the next big thing the scientist community worked on was to find the DNA structure. The molecular structure of DNA was discovered in the form of a double helix shape. The two strands were composed of nucleotides, each with a sugar-phosphate backbone. The scientists discovered four types of DNA nucleotides: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G. Afterwards, the scientists showed the order of DNA sequence and pointed out that the order of nucleotide bases should be in the form (A, T, G, C ). They established two base-pairing rules. One, A and T should bond with each and two, C and G should also bond with each other. The other thing I found it as a rule was the idea “DNA molecules must be compactly organized in the nucleus” (11).
According to the scientists, a double helix of DNA undergoes twisting with the help of proteins known as histones. It forms coils and extended complex beads known as chromatin and which further coiled into a chromosome. A number chromosome in human body cells may vary, but typically humans have a total of 46 chromosomes. It means 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell’s nucleus. Other organisms like chimpanzees and hermit crabs have 48 and 254 chromosomes respectively. The number of chromosomes in an organism is “dependent upon the size or complexity of the organism” (12). Lastly, the double helix appearance of DNA serves as a pattern that enables the DNA to replicate and duplicate.