General ---------Biology------------------------------------------- ------------------Online--------------------------------------------------------------- Ch. 16 The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

The genetics we studied in previous chapters had to do with how traits are inherited at the level of the organism.  If you are looking at genetics at the organism level, you are studying "Mendelian Genetics."  For almost 100 years after Mendel, little progress was made in understanding the cellular mechanics and biochemical pathways that caused inheritance to work.  Ch. 16 is about the discovery of "DNA as the Genetic Material" and "DNA Replication and Repair," the molecular and biochemical processes that cause the patterns of inheritance we observe in individuals and populations. 

In the 1930's and 40's the field of biochemistry began to emerge.  This chapter looks at several of these early experiments that paved the way for Watson and Crick's famous discovery of the structure of DNA (DNA drawing;  DNA animation.)

Watson and Crick were graduate students in their twenties when they made their Nobel Prize winning discovery in 1953.  I was 8 years old and a pitcher on my schools baseball team.  I missed the epic event.  I had not begun to read the news paper.  TV had been discovered, but not even my rich uncle had one. 

It took another 40 years for science to begin to understand enough about DNA to start manipulating it, fixing genes like the one that causes hemophilia and splicing genes from one creature into another.

The next 20 years will be the age of biotechnology, and the work that Watson and Crick did will start paying off in cures for diseases and new and better food crops.  Perhaps you will be able to clone your favorite pet so that when it dies you can go on enjoying its company.  There will be a few ethical issues and much political arm waving, as we go boldly where no one has gone.

Chapters 16-19 lay the foundation for our discussion of biotechnology in Ch. 20.  You will get some first hand experience with biotechnology in the lab when we splice an amphicillin resistant gene into bacteria.  As you and your children watch the age of biotechnology unfold, you will be able to explain what's happening and make informed decisions when you vote and when you select health care options.

There are no online notes on this chapter.  Follow the assignments.