Kia Ora
The key topics we have covered this term are genetics, such as –
- The genetic code
- Inheritance
- Mutations in DNA
- Evolution
- Adaptations
- Selection
DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid, and it can be found in every cell in the nucleus. The shape of DNA is a double helix. It carries genetic information for the development of living things so they can live and function. DNA is made up of a four letter code, A, T, G and C. The letter A matches with T and G matches with C. A section of that DNA is called a gene. A gene codes for a particular trait you might have. Your traits that your genes code for are the characteristics you get from your parents which is called a trait. When you get characteristics or traits from your parents it is called inherit. Your parents pass down their genetic information to you and you then have it. There is a way you can be able to see what traits an offspring will most likely have, by using a punnett square. A punnett square is a grid that is used to predict the probability of an offspring inheriting specific genotypes and phenotypes from its parents.
A trait is the characteristics your parents pass down to you that you have. That trait could be passed down to your offspring if you survive long enough to reproduce, which is called natural selection. It is a theory that Charles Darwin made, meaning that when organisms are better adapted to their environment they can survive long enough to reproduce and give those traits to their offspring. When they produce offspring, it is called reproduction. When living things are able to reproduce and give its offspring its traits, it can be a part of evolution. Evolution is when a population’s traits change over time by surviving long enough to reproduce and give its offspring some of its traits. Its traits need to suit that environment so it can survive. When those living things survive long enough to make offspring, and that offspring survives long enough to make its own offspring and the process repeats, then it is evolution if those traits change over time.
CRISPR – CRISPR is a technology that lets people edit DNA. The benefits this could have for humans is that it could help us to prevent extinction in animals, and it can change our DNA if we have a mutation. These are acceptable uses of CRISPR because they are not harmful and they are good things to change instead of bad things.