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Introduction to Genetics MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

Edited By admin | Updated on Sep 18, 2023 18:34 AM | #NEET

Quick Facts

  • 11 Questions around this concept.

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Which of the following is the basic unit of heredity in living organisms?

What is the purpose of mitosis in cell division?

 

Concepts Covered - 1

Introduction to Genetics
  • Heredity is a process of transmission of traits from parents to their offspring.
  • Such transmissible characters are called heritable characters. 
  • It involves the transfer of genes from parents to offsprings through asexual or sexual reproduction.
  • The subject that deals with the inheritance, as well as the variation of characters from parents to offspring, is Genetics.
  • Inheritance is the process by which characters are passed on from parent to progeny; it is the basis of heredity.
  • Variation is the degree by which progeny differ from their parents.
  • Variations can be heritable or non-heritable.
  • Variations are more pronounced in sexual reproduction.
  • Mutations provide discontinuous variations while sexual reproduction provides continuous variations.

Ancient Theories of Heredity:

  • Pythagoras (500 BC) proposed that every organ of the human body gives out some types of vapours. These vapours contribute to the formation of a human being.
  • Hippocrates (400 BC) proposed that reproductive material is handed over from all parts of the body to the developing individual.
  • Aristotle (300 BC) proposed that semen has some vitalizing effect. Semen was considered to be a pure form of blood and that it puts life into the inert matter provided by mother.
  • Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) proposed that mother and father contribute equally to the heredity of the offspring.
  • Some scientists speculated that there is a ‘little man’ or Homunculus in the sperm.
  • The theory of Homunculus was published in the journal des Scavans on 7th Feb 1695.
  • K.F. Wolff (1738-1794) refuted the Homunculus theory. He proposed that gametes contain substances that are capable of organizing the body after fertilization. 
  • This theory formed the basis of the Theory of Epigenesis.
  • Theory of Epigenesis proposed that many new organs and tissues were absent originally and have developed gradually.
  • Weismann in 1892 proposed the Theory of Germplasm to explain the heredity.
  • According to this theory, the body of an organism contains two types of cells namely somatic cells and reproductive cells. 
  • The germ cells contain the germplasm which plays an important role in the development of the human being.

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Introduction to Genetics

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