Phenotypic traitA phenotypic trait, simply trait, or character state is any distinct variant of a phenotypic, or observable, characteristic of an organism; it may be either inherited or determined environmentally but typically occurs as a combination of the two. For example, having eye color is a character of an organism, while blue, brown and hazel versions of eye color are traits.
EvolutionEvolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It happens when individuals in a population vary in their genetic characteristics and in the numbers of their surviving offspring. Mutation introduces new genetic variation, and processes such as genetic drift, gene flow, and natural selection result in some genetic variants becoming more or less common over time.
Genetic variationGenetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources of genetic variation, but other mechanisms, such as genetic drift, contribute to it, as well.
Gregor MendelGregor Johann Mendel (; German: [ˈmɛndl̩]; Czech: Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno (Brünn), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was born in a German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian Empire (today's Czech Republic) and gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics.
Molecular geneticsMolecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the structure and/or function of genes in an organism's genome using genetic screens.
OrganismAn organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Several criteria, few of which are widely accepted, have been proposed to define what constitutes an organism. Among the most common is that an organism has autonomous reproduction, growth, and metabolism. This would exclude viruses, even though they evolve like organisms.
GeneIn biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of . The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protein-coding genes and non-coding genes. During gene expression (the synthesis of RNA or protein from a gene), DNA is first copied into RNA. RNA can be directly functional or be the intermediate template for the synthesis of a protein.
BiologyBiology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of life.
BrnoStatutory city in the Czech RepublicStatutory city in South Moravian, Czech RepublicBrno ( , Czech pronunciation:; German: Brünn) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 404,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic after the capital, Prague, and one of the 100 largest cities in the European Union.
HeredityHeredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of genetic information from parents to their offspring. It may occur through sexual or asexual reproduction, where new cells are produced from either individual cells underdoing cell division or two cells combining genomes, respectively. Through heredity, genetic variations in populations can accumulate and cause species to evolve by natural selection. The study of heredity in biology is genetics.
AugustiniansAugustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about A.D. 400 by Augustine of Hippo.
MoraviaMoravia is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early modern Margraviate of Moravia was a crown land of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown from 1348 to 1918, an imperial state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1004 to 1806, a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867, and a part of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.