Genetics and Evolution

Chapter 1: Introduction to Genetics and Evolution

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• What is genetics? What is evolution?

• Why they are studied together

• History: Mendel, Darwin, Watson & Crick

• Key questions and big ideas

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Chapter 2: DNA, Genes, and Chromosomes

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• What is a gene?

• Structure of DNA

• Chromosomes and packaging of genetic material

• Overview of the genome

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Chapter 3: Mendelian Genetics

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• Mendel’s laws: segregation and independent assortment

• Dominant vs. recessive traits

• Monohybrid and dihybrid crosses

• Punnett squares and probability

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Chapter 4: Non-Mendelian Genetics

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• Incomplete dominance and codominance

• Multiple alleles (e.g., blood types)

• Polygenic inheritance

• Epistasis and gene interactions

• Environmental effects on gene expression

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Chapter 5: Chromosomal Inheritance and Sex Determination

• Autosomes vs. sex chromosomes

• X-linked traits

• Genetic disorders caused by chromosomal abnormalities

• Karyotyping and nondisjunction

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Chapter 6: Mutations and Variation

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• Types of mutations (point, insertion, deletion)

• Causes: spontaneous vs. environmental

• Germline vs. somatic mutations

• Mutations as sources of genetic variation

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Chapter 7: Population Genetics

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• Gene pool and allele frequency

• Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and its conditions

• Genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, selection

• Bottlenecks and founder effects

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Chapter 8: Natural Selection and Adaptation

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• Darwin’s theory of natural selection

• Types of selection: stabilizing, directional, disruptive

• Fitness and survival

• Adaptation to environment

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Chapter 9: Speciation and Macroevolution

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• What is a species?

• Allopatric vs. sympatric speciation

• Reproductive isolation

• Adaptive radiation and evolutionary trees (cladograms)

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Chapter 10: Molecular Evolution and Comparative Genomics

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• DNA sequence changes over time

• Molecular clocks

• Shared genes and common ancestry

• Genomics and evolutionary relationships

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Chapter 11: Human Evolution and Ancestry

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• Timeline of human evolution

• Fossil evidence and major hominin species

• Genetic evidence of human ancestry

• Migration and diversity

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Chapter 12: Evolutionary Development (Evo-Devo)

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• Developmental genes in evolution

• Role of Hox genes in body plan evolution

• Changes in gene regulation vs. gene sequence

• Case studies: limb loss in snakes, fin-to-limb transition

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Chapter 13: Tools and Techniques in Genetics and Evolution

• Pedigree analysis

• Gel electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting

• PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)

• DNA sequencing

• Genetic databases and phylogenetic analysis

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