Objective 6  Fundamental concepts of heredity and evolution

A short list of these concepts would include at least the following:

1) hereditary events control the transmission of structural and functional information from one generation to the next

2) DNA is the primary molecule for information storage, transmission, and expression of hereditary traits

3) the units of heredity consist of specific DNA sequences residing as genes on chromosomes; variation in genes are known as alleles

4) inheritance patterns of genes (alleles) can be predicted

5) gene expression is a tightly regulated process involving the transcription of a linear DNA sequence into RNA, and the subsequent translation of mRNA into polypeptides

6) mutations can give rise to alterations in hereditary information and thus to genetic variation in populations

7)  evolutionary theory predicts that the genetic variation produced by random mutations can be acted upon by the driving forces of natural selection and genetic drift, giving rise to microevolution and, potentially, the longer term changes associated with macroevolution.

8) scientific explanations for the origin, the development, and the diversity of life on earth reference common ancestry through evolutionary processes over extended periods of time