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13.0: Prelude to Modern Understandings of Inheritance

  • Page ID
    1885
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    The gene is the physical unit of inheritance, and genes are arranged in a linear order on chromosomes. The behaviors and interactions of chromosomes during meiosis explain, at a cellular level, the patterns of inheritance that we observe in populations. Genetic disorders involving alterations in chromosome number or structure may have dramatic effects and can prevent a fertilized egg from developing altogether.

    Figure_13_00_01.jpg
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Chromosomes are threadlike nuclear structures consisting of DNA and proteins that serve as the repositories for genetic information. The chromosomes depicted here were isolated from a fruit fly’s salivary gland, stained with dye, and visualized under a microscope. Akin to miniature bar codes, chromosomes absorb different dyes to produce characteristic banding patterns, which allows for their routine identification. (credit: modification of work by “LPLT”/Wikimedia Commons; scale-bar data from Matt Russell)

    This page titled 13.0: Prelude to Modern Understandings of Inheritance is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax.

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