1. Name:_____________________ Date:______/___/__
Living Environment Rabbi Goldberg
Genetic Material
I. Introduction
a. The characteristics of all living things depends ________________
_____________________________________________________
i. They have been inherited ___________________________
1. this was done through _________________
a. All the traits of come from
__________________________________
ii. Or inherited by __________________________
1. Which is done through________________
a. All the traits come from
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
2. *** We are going top learn later
a. though organisms get their traits from their
parent(s) their traits can be changed
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
II. What are the purposes for DNA?
a. Structure and Function
i. DNA provides the set of coded ______________________
________________________________________________
ii. The DNA molecule also provides for a reliable way for
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
iii. Heredity refers to this
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
III. What is DNA?
a. DNA is a double ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
i. This shape is called a double helix.
ii. The sides of this twisted ladder are
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
iii. The rungs of the ladder are made up of pairs of nitrogenous
bases.

2. iv. These bases are called
1. adenine (A),
Structure of the 2. thymine (T),
DNA molecule 3. guanine (G),
4. and cytosine (C).
b. How are these bases paired?
i. Remember the acronym
1. All Teachers Go Crazy
a. Adenine _____________
b. Guanine ____________
ii. This principle is sometimes called ____________________
IV. Where do we find thee DNA Molecules?
a. DNA is contained in the ____________________________
Location of DNA
V. Gene-Chromosome Model
a. Hereditary information ______________________,
b. which are ________________________________,
c. located in the ______________________________
d. Chromosomes are found in the nucleus of each cell.

3. The Gene Chromosome Model
e. Each gene ________________________________________.
f. An inherited trait of an ___________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
g. A single gene can influence more than one trait.
VI. How do genes get messed up?
a. Gene Mutations
i. Changes in ________________________________
1. therefore ____________________________.
ii. A mutation may change the manner in which a trait is
expressed by an organism.

4. I. Asexual Heredity VS. Sexual Heredity
a. Introduction
i. For offspring to resemble their parents, there must be a
reliable way to transfer information from one generation to
the next.
ii. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one
generation to another.
iii. The DNA molecule provides the mechanism for transferring
these instructions.
b. Asexual Heredity
i. In asexually reproducing organisms, all the genes come from
a single parent.
ii. As asexually produced offspring are produced by the cell
division process of mitosis, all offspring are normally
genetically identical to the parent.
c. Sexual Heredity
i. In sexually reproducing organisms, the new individual
receives half of the genetic information from its mother
through the egg
ii. and half from its father from his sperm.
iii. Sexually produced offspring resemble, but are not identical
to, either of their parents.
iv. Variations of sexual heredity
1. crossing over – Where a piece of a chromosome
crosses over a piece of its counter part
2. genetic recombination, which is the combining of the
genetic instructions of both parents into a new
combination in the offspring when fertilization occurs.
3. The processes of crossing over and genetic
recombination will result in offspring showing variation
from the original parents.
4. The variations shown between different sexually
produced offspring provide the driving force for the
process of natural selection.
II. Heredity and Environment
a. The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of
combinations of traits.
b. Traits are inherited, but their expression can be modified by
interactions with the environment.
c. The many body cells in an individual can be very different from one
another, even though they are all descended from a single cell and
thus have identical genetic instructions.

5. d. This is because different parts of these instructions are used in
different types of cells, influenced by the cell’s environment and
past history.
e. Poor health habits can have an adverse effect on the development
and expression of many genes in human cells, resulting in sickness
or even death.
III. Mutation
a. A mutation is a change in the genetic material of an organism.
b. Mutations which occur in non sex cells of sexually reproducing
organisms will not be passed on to the offspring,
c. although they may result in disease or death for the organism
involved.
d. One possible consequence of a mutation in a non sex cell is
uncontrolled mitotic cell division or cancer.
e. Mutations which occur in sex cells or gametes may be passed to
the offspring.
f. Along with crossing over and genetic recombination, mutation
provides for a source of variation in sexually reproducing
individuals.
DNA
In all organisms, the coded instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism
are carried in DNA. The genetic code is contained in the four nitrogenous bases of DNA;
adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. These bases are often indicated only by using
their beginning letters A, G, C, and T. Each individual DNA strand serves as a template
or model for the formation of other DNA molecules by replication.
RNA
DNA codes for the formation of RNA in the nucleus of the cell. RNA is short for
another kind of nucleic acid called ribonucleic acid. RNA is very similar in structure to
DNA except for three small differences. These differences include the fact that RNA is
a single stranded molecule, lacks the base thymine (T) as it is replaced by the base uracil
(U), and its five carbon sugar ribose has one more oxygen atom than the sugar in DNA.
Three different types of RNA exist, mRNA or messenger RNA, tRNA or transfer
RNA, and rRNA or ribosomal RNA.
Protein Synthesis
Cells store and use coded information. The genetic information stored in DNA is used to
direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires. The chemical and
structural properties of DNA are the basis for how the genetic information that underlies
heredity. DNA is encoded in the sequence of nitrogenous bases which directs the

6. formation of proteins in the cell. How does this process work? First, the DNA code is
copied on to the mRNA (messenger RNA) codon. A codon is a sequence of three
nitrogenous bases. This process is called transcription. This mRNA codon is then
carried from the nucleus out to the ribosome. Messenger RNA attaches to another kind
of RNA called tRNA (transfer RNA). Transfer RNA attaches to amino acids and carries
them to the ribosome. This assembly of amino acids due to the code provided to RNA
by the original DNA molecule is what produces proteins for the cell. Remember a
protein is a long molecule formed from amino acid subunits.
Protein Synthesis
In summary, the code of DNA directs the synthesis of RNA, which in turn directs the
making of proteins on the ribosomes. This is sometimes referred to as being the central
dogma or idea of biology. There are 64 possible combinations of triplets (sequences of 3
nitrogenous bases) which code for the 20 different possible amino acids. As the DNA
of different organisms and most individuals (except for identical twins) is different, this
means the proteins produced by different humans and other organisms exhibit
differences. It is these differences which make us unique individuals.
The work of the cell is carried out by the many different types of molecules it assembles,
mostly proteins. Protein molecules are long, usually folded chains made from 20 different

7. kinds of amino acids in a specific sequence. This sequence influences the shape of the
protein. The shape of the protein, in turn, determines its function.
Offspring resemble their parents because they inherit similar genes (DNA sequences) that
code for the production of proteins that form similar structures and perform similar
functions.
Cell Regulation
Cell functions are regulated. Regulation occurs both through changes in the activity of
proteins and through the selective expression of individual genes, as humans and other
organisms have genes which direct the expression of other genes. This regulation allows
cells to respond to their environment and to control and coordinate cell growth and
division.

8. I. Selective Breeding
a. For many years many different varieties of plants and domestic
animals have come about from selective breeding.
i. Artificial Selection
1. this is where an individual with desirable traits are
mated so that the offspring will have these traits
ii. In breeding
1. is the same process of artificial breeding but is done
with agriculture where the offspring from Artificial
selection are mated together to reinforce these
desirable traits.
iii. Hybridization
1. is a special case of selective breeding.
2. This involves crossing two individuals with different
desirable traits to produce offspring with a
combination of both desirable traits.
An Example of Selective Breeding
Brahman cattle: English shorthorn Santa Gertrudis
Good resistance to cattle: Good beef cattle: Formed by
heat but poor beef. but poor heat crossing Brahman
resistance. and English
shorthorns; has
good heat resistance
and beef.
II. Genetic Engineering
a. In recent years new varieties of farm plants and animals have been
engineered by changing their genetic instructions to produce new
characteristics.

9. b. This technology is known as genetic engineering or recombinant
DNA technology.
i. Different enzymes can be used to cut, copy (clone), and
move parts of DNA.
ii. An important category of enzyme used to cut a section of a
gene and its DNA from an organism is known as a restriction
enzyme.
iii. When this piece of DNA, which has been cut out of one
organism, is placed in another organism, that section of
gene will show the characteristics that were expressed by
this gene in the organism it was taken from.
An Example of Genetic Engineering
c. Health care and genetic engineering.
i. Genetic engineering is being used make chemical needed
for human health care.
ii. It may be possible to use aspect of genetic engineering to
correct some human health defects.
1. Some examples of chemicals being mass produced
by human genes in bacteria include
a. insulin,
b. human growth hormone,
c. and interferon.
2. While genetic engineering technology has many
practical benefits, its use has also raised many
legitimate ethical concerns.
III. Other Genetic Technologies
a. Cloning
i. involves producing a group of genetically identical offspring
from the cells of an organism.
ii. This technique may greatly increase agricultural
productivity.
iii. Plants and animals with desirable qualities can be rapidly
produced from the cells of a single organism.
b. Genetic mapping,
i. which is the location of specific genes inside the
chromosomes of cells makes it possible to detect, and

10. perhaps in the future correct defective genes that may lead
to poor health.
There are many ethical concerns to these advanced genetic technologies,
including possible problems associated with the cloning of humans.