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Genetics

Free Genetics study guide: 10 units with summaries, key ideas, flashcards and 300 practice questions with step-by-step solutions.

Lines up with: College genetics course; AP Biology heredity.

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Units

  1. UNIT 01

    Mendelian Inheritance and Probability

    This unit covers how single genes and pairs of genes are passed from parents to offspring, and the probability tools used to predict and test cross results.
  2. UNIT 02

    Extensions of Mendel: Dominance, Epistasis and Linkage

    Real traits often break Mendel's simple ratios. This unit explains why, using dominance types, multiple alleles, lethal alleles, gene interaction, penetrance and polygenic traits, and shows how to read the modified ratios.
  3. UNIT 03

    Chromosomes, Mitosis, Meiosis and Sex Linkage

    Genes ride on chromosomes, so understanding how chromosomes behave in mitosis and meiosis explains Mendel's laws, sex determination and the special patterns of X-linked traits.
  4. UNIT 04

    Linkage Mapping and Recombination

    Genes on the same chromosome are linked, and the frequency of recombination between them can be used to build genetic maps and predict the gametes they form.
  5. UNIT 05

    Pedigrees and Human Genetics

    Humans cannot be crossed experimentally, so geneticists read family pedigrees to find modes of inheritance and calculate the risk to future children.
  6. UNIT 06

    DNA Structure and Replication

    This unit covers how scientists proved DNA is the hereditary material, how its double-helix structure works, and how cells copy it accurately before each division.
  7. UNIT 07

    Gene Expression: Transcription and Translation

    Genes act by being transcribed into RNA and translated into protein. This unit covers each step, from promoter to polypeptide, and the rules of the genetic code.
  8. UNIT 08

    Gene Regulation

    Cells control which genes are expressed and when. This unit covers bacterial operons, the logic of cis and trans regulators, and the many layers of eukaryotic regulation.
  9. UNIT 09

    Mutation, Repair and Chromosome Changes

    Mutations are the raw material of variation and the cause of many diseases. This unit covers how DNA changes, how cells repair damage, and what happens when whole chromosomes change.
  10. UNIT 10

    Population Genetics and Hardy-Weinberg

    Population genetics follows allele frequencies across generations. The Hardy-Weinberg principle gives a baseline, and departures from it reveal mutation, migration, drift, selection and nonrandom mating.