Genes and Inheritance
Map
Arrows point from what you learn first to what it opens. Point at a concept to light up its chain and where it comes back deeper. Right-click a concept (or press and hold it) for its lessons and stories.
- Proven to depth123
- Open
- Locked
- Comes back deeper
Learning path
In the order the concepts build on each other.
- DNALockedThe molecule that carries the instructions for building and running a living thing: a double helix, like a twisted ladder, whose rungs are pairs of four bases, A, T, C and G.Opens after: Parts of a cell
- HeredityReadyThe passing of traits from parents to their children through genes. Some traits are inherited, some are acquired during life, and many are shaped by both.
- Cell divisionLockedHow new cells are made: a cell copies all of its DNA, then splits in two (mitosis), so each new cell gets a full, identical set of chromosomes. It is how a body grows from one cell and repairs itself.Opens after: DNA
- GenesLockedStretches of DNA that each carry the instructions for one job, usually for making one protein. Humans have about 20,000 of them, on 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs: one of each pair from each parent.Opens after: DNA
- Dominant and recessiveLockedEvery living thing carries two versions (alleles) of most genes and passes on one. A dominant version shows even with one copy; a recessive one shows only with two, so it can hide for a generation and come back - as Mendel found with peas.Opens after: Heredity, Genes
Connections to other domains
- DNA needs Parts of a cellThe Cell
- Heredity leads to VariationEvolution