Mendel's Work

the passing of characteristics from parents to offspring

characteristic, such as color or height, that is inherited; can be either dominant or recessive

the study of heredity

fusion of male and female gametes

a hybrid organism has two different alleles for a trait

the different forms of a gene for each variation of a trait of an organism

observed trait of an organism that masks the recessive form of a trait

trait of an organism that can be masked by the dominant form of a trait

Physical appearane or visible traits

Genetic makeup, or allele combinations

when an organism has two identical alleles for a trait

when an organism has two different alleles for a trait

type of cell division where one body cell produces four gametes each containing half the number of chromosomes as a parents body cell

a purebred organism is the offspring of many generations that have the same trait i.e. purebred short pea plants always come from short parent plants

the factors that control a trait

Mendel reasoned that individual factors, or sets of genetic information, must control the inheritance of traits in peas. The factors that control each trait exist in pairs. The female parent contributes one factor, while the male parent contributes the other factor. One factor in a pair can mask, or hide, the other factor.

the likelihood that a particular event will occur In a genetic cross, the allele that each parent will pass on to it's offspring is based on probability

a chart that shows all the possible combinations of alleles that can result from a genetic cross

a condition in which neither of two alleles of a gene is dominant or recessive

Geneticists use letters to represent alleles. A dominant allele is represented by a capital letter. A recessive allele is represented by the lowercase letter.

An organism's traits are controlled by the alleles it inherits from it's parents. Some alleles are dominant, while other alleles are recessive.