[Biology Class Notes] on Heredity Pdf for EXAM

Has it ever happened that your family or your friends say that you have some resemblance to either of your parents? It is a pretty common thing to happen. That’s what heredity is. You imbibe certain traits from your parents which can either be related to appearance or your behaviour. Inheritance is another word that is used to describe heredity. Like I said before, the resemblance is bound to be there in one way or the other as inheritance is all about the transfer of traits from parents to their children. The hereditary characteristics can be seen within families as well. An example of heredity would be a child getting the same hair colour as either of its parents.

 

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Heredity Definition

When it comes to inheriting hereditary traits or hereditary genes, to be honest, the science behind it is a bit complex and unpredictable. It is not possible to be sure of which hereditary traits from parents would the child receive. Inheritance is bound to happen but you can’t be sure about how it would happen.

 

The scientific definition of heredity can be explained in simple terms as, “Heredity or Inheritance is the biological process of transferring genetic information in the form of physical or mental characteristics from the parent to their children.” In a family, the hereditary physical traits are often quite easy to point out. 

 

There can be more than one way to state the heredity meaning or the heredity definition but the science behind it would always remain the same. The heredity definition in biology refers to the science that studies the definition of heredity in biological species and microorganisms.

 

Mendel’s Inheritance

The famous inheritance law was formulated by Gregor Mendel, who was given the title “The Father of Genetics”. He was a scientist who came up with his “Pea experiment”,  to find out and prove the meaning of heredity. 

 

As per the Mendel heredity theory, there are three laws of inheritance. They are scientifically stated as the “Laws of Heredity”. They are as follows;

 

These three laws help to define what heredity is. The results that Mendel got after the “Pea Experiment” were used as a reference to draft the hereditary traits list that we currently use. It is a list of all the traits that you as a child can inherit from your parents. 

The list includes the following;

• Eye Color

• Hair Type and Color

• Height

• Fingerprints

• Lips

• Dimples

• Teeth Structure

• Mental Disorders

• Left-Handedness

• Blood Sugar

• Sleeping Style

• Heart Problems 

 

These traits can be segregated into the ones that are likely to be inherited from Mother and Father separately. The factor of heredity and evolution should also be taken into account as it may define heredity with the variations/mutations that can occur.

 

Inheriting diseases from your parents is one of the heredity biology examples that can be proven. You can say that either or both parents have diabetes, then the likelihood of their child having diabetes is high. But according to Mendel’s theory, there can be variations too. It is all about heredity and evolution.

 

Fun Fact: Heredity and Evolution

We know that Charles Darwin put forth the theory of evolution which stated that only the fittest living organisms are bound to survive any change that they may encounter in their surroundings.

 

As per the heredity meaning and the heredity definition, it is clear that the process in a living organism is dependent on its parent organism for the traits that it may have inherited. Evolution on the other hand occurs when a living organism adapts itself according to the changes in its environment. 

 

When asked to define heredity, you can say that it is all about inheriting traits from your parents. In evolution, an entire species goes through certain changes to make itself better.

 

It can be said that heredity and evolution are two peas in a pod. The evolution of a species occurs due to the traits that they have inherited from their predecessors. It occurs over successive generations and involves the mutations in the inherited genetic sequences in an organism. 

 

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The heredity meaning or the heredity definition is used to acknowledge the process that stretches over generations. The child can inherit traits that may not be dominant in its parents. This occurs due to the hybridization of genes as per Mendel’s proposed theory. 

 

Heredity and evolution go hand in hand as the evolution of organisms take place due to the mutations that occur in their genes.