Chromosomes, Genes, and Traits: An Introduction to Genetics

• Introduction
• Land Acknowledgement Statement for the ROTEL Grant
• Part I: DNA Structures
• Part II: Genome Structure
• Part III: Mitosis and Meiosis
• Part IV: Overview of Central Dogma and Replication
• Part V: Transcription
• Part VI: Translation and genetic code
• Part VII: Genetic Code and Mutation
• Part VIII: Regulation of Gene Expression
• Part IX: Mendel and Basic Heredity
• Part X: Allele Interactions
• Part XI: Multigenic Inheritance
• Part XII: Genetics of Sex
• Part XIII: Family Trees and Pedigrees
• Part XIV: Linkage and Mapping
• Part XV: Epigenetics
• Grant Information

This resource is written for an introductory or intermediate-level college genetics course. The work begins with an exploration of DNA and genome structure, including landmark experiments that contributed to our early understanding of the relationship between DNA, genes, and traits. It continues with the central dogma of molecular genetics: the molecular mechanisms that allow cells to use the information stored in DNA. It also discusses the cause and effect of mutation. The molecular processes are then linked back to classical transmission genetics experiments.

Transmission genetics, including traditional topics like multigenic inheritance, linkage, and pedigree analysis, is explored with an understanding that the relationships between genotype and phenotype depends on the molecular processes affecting gene expression. This work concludes with topics that synthesize information from both transmission and molecular genetics, including epigenetics, cancer biology, and evolution.

Science is meant to be an impartial field of study, but it is nonetheless influenced by social factors that drive which research questions are pursued and that color how results are interpreted or acted upon. In this text, the fundamental concepts of genetics are described in the context of the historical and social pressures that affect the work. Examples of how these concepts are applied in human medicine, agriculture, and ecology are also explored, along with conversations of the relationship between genetics and society.