Evolution, Heredity & Genetics, PLE-YOU
Earth has housed a vast variety of plants, animals, and other living things throughout the history of its existence, and many living things have changed in discernible ways over the years. The theory of evolution, one of the fundamental keystones of modern biological theory, examines the way in which such changes unfold. Heredity describes the biological processes by which certain characteristics are transmitted from parents to their offspring. Genetics studies heredity in general and genes in particular.
Evolution, Heredity & Genetics Encyclopedia Articles By Title
pleomorphism, the existence of irregular and variant forms in the same species or strain of microorganisms, a condition......
polymerase chain reaction ( PCR), a technique used to make numerous copies of a specific segment of DNA quickly......
polymorphism, in biology, a discontinuous genetic variation resulting in the occurrence of several different forms......
polyploidy, the condition in which a normally diploid cell or organism acquires one or more additional sets of......
Guido Pontecorvo was an Italian geneticist who discovered the process of genetic recombination in the fungus Aspergillus.......
prophase, the initial stage of mitosis and of the mitotic division of meiosis, characterized by the formation of......
Reginald Punnett was an English geneticist who, with the English biologist William Bateson, discovered genetic......
Svante Pääbo is a Swedish evolutionary geneticist who specialized in the study of DNA from ancient specimens and......
ribose, five-carbon sugar found in RNA (ribonucleic acid), where it alternates with phosphate groups to form the......
ribosomal RNA (rRNA), molecule in cells that forms part of the protein-synthesizing organelle known as a ribosome......
RNA, complex compound of high molecular weight that functions in cellular protein synthesis and replaces DNA (deoxyribonucleic......
Alfred Sherwood Romer was a U.S. paleontologist widely known for his concepts of evolutionary history of vertebrate......
Michael Rosbash is an American geneticist known for his discoveries concerning circadian rhythm, the cyclical 24-hour......
runaway selection hypothesis, in biology, an explanation first proposed by English statistician R.A. Fisher in......
Gary Ruvkun is an American molecular biologist and geneticist renowned for his groundbreaking research on microRNA......
Ruth Sager was an American geneticist chiefly noted for recognizing the importance of nonchromosomal genes. Sager......
Edith Rebecca Saunders was a British botanist and plant geneticist known for her contributions to the understanding......
Otto Heinrich Schindewolf was a German paleontologist, known for his research on corals and cephalopods. Schindewolf......
Scopes Trial, (July 10–21, 1925, Dayton, Tennessee, U.S.), highly publicized trial (known as the “Monkey Trial”)......
secretor system, phenotype based on the presence of soluble antigens on the surfaces of red blood cells and in......
selection, in biology, the preferential survival and reproduction or preferential elimination of individuals with......
selection coefficient, in genetics, a measure of the relative reduction in the contribution that a particular genotype......
self-fertilization, fusion of male and female gametes (sex cells) produced by the same individual. Self-fertilization......
sex determination, the establishment of the sex of an organism, usually by the inheritance at the time of fertilization......
sex-controlled character, a genetically controlled feature that may appear in organisms of both sexes but is expressed......
sex-limited character, an observable feature appearing only in members of one sex of a given population of organisms,......
sex-linked character, an observable feature of an organism controlled by the genes on the chromosomes that determine......
sexual dimorphism, the differences in appearance between males and females of the same species, such as in colour,......
sexual selection, theory in postulating that the evolution of certain conspicuous physical traits—such as pronounced......
George Harrison Shull was an American botanist and geneticist known as the father of hybrid corn (maize). As a......
George Gaylord Simpson was an American paleontologist known for his contributions to evolutionary theory and to......
single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), variation in a genetic sequence that affects only one of the basic building......
George Davis Snell was an American immunogeneticist who, with Jean Dausset and Baruj Benacerraf, was awarded the......
social Darwinism, the theory that human groups and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles......
speciation, the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution. Speciation involves the splitting......
Herbert Spencer was an English sociologist and philosopher, an early advocate of the theory of evolution, who achieved......
Franklin Stahl is an American geneticist who, with Matthew Meselson, elucidated in 1958 the mode of replication......
George Ledyard Stebbins, Jr. was an American botanist and geneticist known for his application of the modern synthetic......
Nettie Stevens was an American biologist and geneticist who was one of the first scientists to find that sex is......
Alfred Henry Sturtevant was an American geneticist who in 1913 developed a technique for mapping the location of......
survival of the fittest, term made famous in the fifth edition (published in 1869) of On the Origin of Species......
Walter Sutton was a U.S. geneticist who provided the first conclusive evidence that chromosomes carry the units......
David Suzuki is a Canadian scientist, television personality, author, and environmental activist who is known for......
M.S. Swaminathan was an Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in India’s......
Jack W. Szostak is an English-born American biochemist and geneticist who was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for......
Although his formal education occurred between the ages of 8 and 10, plus four or five years at medical school,......
Edward L. Tatum was an American biochemist who helped demonstrate that genes determine the structure of particular......
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a French philosopher and paleontologist known for his theory that man is evolving,......
telophase, in mitosis and meiosis, the final stage of cell division in which the spindle disappears and the nucleus......
temporal isolation, in biology, a type of reproductive isolation mechanism among sexual organisms in which the......
testcross, the mating of an organism whose genetic constitution is unknown with an organism whose entire genetic......
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, two of the 19th century’s most enduring thinkers and figures, share more than......
Sir D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson was a Scottish zoologist and classical scholar noted for his influential work On......
transfer RNA (tRNA), small molecule in cells that carries amino acids to organelles called ribosomes, where they......
Erich Tschermak von Seysenegg was an Austrian botanist, one of the co-discoverers of Gregor Mendel’s classic papers......
variation, in biology, any difference between cells, individual organisms, or groups of organisms of any species......
Nikolai Vavilov was a Soviet plant geneticist whose research into the origins of cultivated plants incurred the......
J. Craig Venter is an American geneticist, biochemist, and businessman who pioneered new techniques in genetics......
Bert Vogelstein is an American oncologist known for his groundbreaking work on the genetics of cancer. Vogelstein......
Hugo de Vries was a Dutch botanist and geneticist who introduced the experimental study of organic evolution. His......
C.H. Waddington was a British embryologist, geneticist, and philosopher of science. Waddington graduated in geology......
Alfred Russel Wallace was a British humanist, naturalist, geographer, and social critic. He became a public figure......
James Watson is an American geneticist and biophysicist who played a crucial role in the discovery of the molecular......
Franz Weidenreich was a German anatomist and physical anthropologist whose reconstruction of prehistoric human......
August Weismann was a German biologist and one of the founders of the science of genetics. He is best known for......
Eric F. Wieschaus is an American developmental biologist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine,......
Samuel Wilberforce was a British cleric, an Anglican prelate and educator and a defender of orthodoxy, who typified......
Ian Wilmut was a British developmental biologist who was the first to use nuclear transfer of differentiated adult......
Evelyn M. Witkin was an American geneticist whose groundbreaking research on mutagenesis (the induction of mutations)......
Gordon L. Woods was an American equine reproduction specialist who led research efforts resulting in the generation......
Sewall Wright was an American geneticist, one of the founders of population genetics. He was the brother of the......
Shinya Yamanaka is a Japanese physician and researcher who developed a revolutionary method for generating stem......
Ryuzo Yanagimachi was a Japanese-born American scientist whose team cloned the second live mammal, a mouse, and......
Charles Yanofsky was an American geneticist who demonstrated the colinearity of gene and protein structures. Yanofsky......
Michael W. Young is an American geneticist who contributed to the discovery of molecular mechanisms that regulate......