Question

The science of heredity is known as
A. Genetics
B. Biochemistry
C. Biotechnology
D. Microbiology

Answer 1

Genes are responsible for the transmission of characters from parent to progeny. Heredity is defined as the transmission of characters from one generation to the next or from parents to offspring.

Complete answer:
Genetics is the branch of biology that deals with heredity and variations that occur in sexually reproducing organisms. Variations are the differences between the parents and offspring, among the offspring of the same parents and among the individuals of the same species. Variations arise in sexual reproduction and they play an important role in the evolution of new species. According to Darwin, these small variations lead to speciation that is the origin of new species.
The term genetics was coined by William Bateson in 1906. Term genetics is derived from genesis which means ‘to grow into’. In the year 1866, Gregor Johann Mendel gave the first scientific explanation regarding inheritance. He laid down the foundations of genetics therefore he is called the father of genetics.
The characters are transmitted from one generation to the next through particles, which are known as genes and this process is called inheritance. Inheritance is the basis of heredity. Mendel called these genes ‘factors’. A gene is a particular segment of DNA that is responsible for the inheritance and expression of that character, hence they are referred to as units of inheritance. Mendel on the basis of his experiments on garden pea gave Mendel’s laws of inheritance and two other laws also. His experiments involved monohybrid and dihybrid cross.
a. Law of dominance – In a cross between two organisms for any pair of contrasting characters, the character that appears in the first generation is called dominant and the one which is suppressed is called recessive.
b. Law of segregation – Members of allelic pairs in a hybrid remain together without mixing with each other and separate or segregate during gamete formation. Thus gametes receive any one of the two factors during gametogenesis and these are pure for a given trait.
c. Law of independent assortment – When the two homozygous parents differing in two pairs of contrasting traits are crossed, the inheritance of one pair is independent of the other.
Hence, the correct answer is option A.

Note: Law of dominance is significant and true but it is not universally applicable because of examples found of codominance and incomplete dominance. The Law of segregation is also known as the law of purity of gametes and is universally applicable.