Genetics Tutorial Notes

Workshop 1 What proof do we have that DNA is the material of inheritance?

Class discussion of the task. Group discussion of an experiment Reporting findings back to class Quiz.

Please make sure that your name has been marked on the roll

Class discussion (tutors answer sheet, do not display): What characteristics must hereditary material possess? Information ~relatively stable (transmission of traits, characteristics of species) contain complete and complex instructions Reproducible ~the material must be replicated and divisible amongst progeny Determination ~the material must encode the traits (phenotype) and the building blocks of those traits (proteins). Alterations must impact on phenotype. Distribution ~It must be found in the appropriate place and inherited according to Mendel’s laws.

tutors, I suggest a whiteboard to write down all the class suggestions, match the suggestions to these characteristics once they’ve had a chance to discuss them. You’ll get more than one suggestion matching each characteristic.

Break into groups and examine one of the following experiments. Discuss: • What was the hypothesis being tested in this experiment? • • How was the experiment conducted? What information does this experiment give us about the material of inheritance? What proof was still missing? Which of the characteristics of inheritance was satisfied by this experiment? Elect a spokesperson to report your findings back to the class Tutors, please give each group the sheet with the relevant experimental details.

• •

tutors answer sheet Sutton’s Experiment: p53 of the Pierce text book Hypothesis: Chromosomes pair, and consist of a maternal and a paternal partner that segregate during meiosis Experiment: Observation of the chromosomes of grasshoppers during meiosis. Information Chromosomes pair, and consist of a maternal and a paternal

partner that segregate during meiosis

Still needed: No phenotype correlations, no proof that chromosomes

carried...