Genetics: Inheritance and Mendel’s Laws
Genetics is a branch of biological sciences that aims to study patterns of inheritance—how traits and characteristics are passed from parents to children. Genes are segments of DNA.
Genotype vs. Phenotype
- Genotype: The set of hereditary genetic constitution of an organism.
- Phenotype: In biology and health sciences, the phenotype is the expression of the genotype in a given environment.
Homozygous and Alleles
- Homozygous: An individual whose genotype has a pair of identical genes (also known as a pure
Health Concerns: Diet, BMI, Diseases & More
Importance of a Balanced Diet
A varied diet ensures that the alimentation is balanced and contains all necessary nutrients. Corn, potatoes, and vegetables must be the basis of the alimentation.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy is the average damage that a person is expected to live. Life expectancy can change throughout a person’s life.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Body Mass Index (BMI) is the ratio between a person’s weight (in kilograms) and height (in meters squared). The value obtained is not constant but
Read MoreCellular Physiology: Transport, Respiration, and Division
Cellular Physiology
It deals with the study of each and every one of the functions performed by the cells. The most important focuses on the movement of substances across their membranes, which form the barrier between the intracellular and extracellular fluid.
Passive Transport
Passive transport involves the movement of substances in different media concentration with no need to expend energy.
- Simple diffusion: Moving from a place of higher to lower concentration.
- Facilitated diffusion: Large molecules
Relationship, Coordination, and Reproduction in Organisms
The role of relationship allows living things to capture changes (stimuli) and produce a response. Elements of the relationship:
- Incentives: These are variations in the environment, which may be internal or external, physical, chemical, and biotic.
- Receivers: These are structures that capture the stimuli (in animals, these are the sense organs).
- Coordinators: These organs receive information from receptors and send it to the effectors (nervous system and endocrine system).
- Effectors: These are the structures
Sensory Organs and the Human Nervous System
Sensory Organs
Taste
Taste buds are located in the tongue papillae, and also on the palate, pharynx, and larynx. Gustatory sensory cells are sensitive to substances dissolved in saliva.
Ears: Hearing and Balance
The ears are the sensory organs of hearing and balance. Through them, we perceive sounds, and they report on the position of the head to maintain balance.
Structure:
- External ear: Formed by the pinna (the visible part of the ear), which is a skin fold supported by cartilage, and the ear canal,
Key Concepts in Biology, Genetics, and Health
A patent is a set of exclusive rights guaranteed by a government or authority to the inventor of a new product to prevent its manufacture, sale, or use without the consent of the owner.
A generic drug is a drug whose patent has expired, so it is no longer called by its brand name but by its active ingredient.
Types of Transplants:
- Autotransplantation: donor and recipient are the same person
- Isotransplantation: donor and recipient are genetically identical
- Allotransplantation: donor and recipient are