Mendel's Experiments

Mendel studied the garden pea plant.

He examined 7 characteristics: pod colour, pod shape, seed colour, seed shape, flower colour, flower
position and stem height.
Before he began his experiments he selectively bred for each characteristic for two years, to obtain
pure breeding offspring. In his experiment he first crossed a pure dominant plant with a pure
recessive plants. All the offspring (F1) were dominant in phenotype. When the F1 generation was
crossed he obtained a ratio of 3:1 (dominant to recessive).
Mendel concluded his information in his law of dominance and segregation, suggesting that
characteristics are determined by factors occurring in pairs.

Experimental techniques that led to Mendel's success

- Reliability: Mendel repeated his experiments and used a large sample size to carry out his
experiments
- Validity: Provided statistical data by making exact counts of each characteristic which produced
quantitative data. He then used mathematical analysis to identify patterns and trends in his data.
- Accuracy: Mendel used pure breeding plants, which he obtained after 2 years of selectively
breeding for each characteristic

Describe outcomes of monohybrid crosses involving simple dominance using Mendel's explanations
- A monohybrid cross is when only one characteristic is examined at a time such as stem height
- Mendel did this such as stem height. He bred a pure tall plant (homozygous dominant, TT) with a
pure short plant (homozygous recessive, tt)
- All the offspring (F1 generation) were tall (heterozygous dominant, Tt)
- He then bred the F1 (Tt x Tt). The offspring of the F2 had the ratio 3:1(dominant to recessive), so
there were 3 tall plants with one short.
- He repeated his experiments and obtained the same result each time.

Distinguish between Homozygous and Heterozygous in Monohybrid crosses

- An allele is a variation of a gene.
- Homozygous genotypes have the same allele for a characteristic, represented by the same letter
twice. E.g. TT or tt
- Heterozygous genotypes have different alleles for a characteristic, e.g. Tt

Distinguish between the terms allele and gene, using examples

- An allele is a variation for a gene. Such as the blue allele (b)and brown allele(B)
- A gene is a section of DNA on a chromosome which carries information for a particular protein or
characteristic. For example, eye colour.

Explain the relationship between dominant and recessive alleles and phenotypes using examples
- Phenotype is the outward appearance of an organism.
- The genotype is the actual alleles present on the chromosomes of the organism.
- The dominant allele is the one that's would be always expressed in the phenotype of an organism if
it exists in the genotype. For example, if a pea plant is heterozygous Tt or is homozygous TT, the
dominant allele is expressed as the dominant allele would preside the recessive one.
- But for recessive alleles, only if the genotype is homozygous recessive then it would be expressed
such as tt, short pea plant.

Outline why Mendel's work wasn't noticed after some time

- Mendel was not well recognised or known by the broader scientific community, he did not interact
with well known scientists
- Mendel published his findings in an obscure journal and some scientists could not access it
- Mendel presented his findings to a very small group of scientists, his findings were not shown to
the larger audience

Hybridisation
- Hybridisation within a species is the crossing of organisms of different strains (varieties) of the
same species to produce offspring with desirable traits.
- For example, the Labradoodle. The labradoodle is a cross between the labrador and the poodle.
The hybrid dog does not produce odour, doesn't need to be washed regularly, are friendly animals
and could be easily trained to become guide dogs.

Current uses of pedigrees

- Pedrigees show how a particular characteristic has been inherited over a number of generations.
- Animal pedigrees are useful for people who horse breed.
- Pedigrees could provide prospect buyers the lineage of worthy genetic traits which lies in the
ancestors of the young horse.
- The pedigree could also be used to predicting the future offspring on the horse and which desirable
characteristics it might hold.
- However, pedrigrees in this case would also encourage artificial insemination.
- Artificial insemination is the process of inserting male gametes into the female.
- This reduces genetic diversity as only a few male horses are selected to breed with a large amount
of females.
- Also, some alleles which may be of future benefit may be lost in the population

DNA-DNA hybridisation is a technique used in biochemistry used to identify similarities in the DNA of
different species and indicate evolutionary relationships between groups of organisms. Analysis of
DNA has found that humans have a similar DNA that is much closer to chimpanzees, than are
chimpanzees are to gorillas.

Steps:
1. The two strands of DNA of each species is separated using heat.
2. The single strand of DNA from one species is mixed with another strand from the other species.
3. Upon cooling the two different stands will anneal to form a hybrid molecule.
4. The degree of pairing depends on the similarity of DNA.
5. Heat is applied to determine the extent of bonding of the two different strands. If it requires high
heat, then they are very similar; if the heat is not substantially high, then not so similar.

Amino acid sequencing

- Amino acid sequencing is used by determining the similarities and differences of amino acids.
- A common protein found in many organisms are obtain, such as haemoglobin.
- The number of differences would be proportional to the time they the organism have been
separated from its common ancestor.
- It was found that humans have an haemoglobin very similar to those of chimpanzees, closer than
chimpanzees are to gibbons. This suggest gibbons may be diverged earlier.

BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE PROVIDES QUANTITATIVE RESULTS. Where the degree of bonding such as
in DNA-DNA hybridisation could be measured.
 Dates
. Late 1700s: Erasmus Darwin proposed that all life forms originated form a single source.

1809: Lamarck put forward the first theory of evolution: the theory of acquired inheritance.
Evolution occurred due to the use and misuse of body parts and characteristics are acquired in one's
lifetime and the offspring inherited the changes.

1859: Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection is his book Origin of the
Species containing evidence which he collected on his 5 year voyage.

Alfred Walace also independently cane up with the same theory.

1900s: The modern theory of evolution combines the ideas of Darwin and other scientists such as
Mendel on the understanding of genetics. This is called Neo-Darwinism

Political Influences;
Speed up: The US Supreme court uplifted the ban on the teaching of evolution by natural selection.
Slow down: Several states in the US banned the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Social influences
Speed up: The Huxley Wiberforce debate allowed further progress to the theory by informing others
about the theory
Slow down: Cartoons were draw to ridicule Darwin, he was afraid of the impact of the theory on his
friends and wife, especially since she was a devout Christian