Here are some notes from the lecture: Vocab: Character, Trait, Gene, Allele, Dominant Trait, Recessive Trait. Mendel's First Law (Segregation) -- reveals the particulate nature of genes, while Mendel's second law (Independent Assortment), reveals that each character is passed on independently of the other. The results of the first and second laws "anticipate the role chromosomes play in genetics." Monohybrid Cross results in a 3:1 ratio of phenotype inheritance. Dyhbrid cross results in a 9:3:3:1 ratio (if the genes for two characters assort independently). Dominant and Recessive are not aspects of every gene. There's Incomplete Dominance (snapdragon example), as well as Co-dominance. Some genes, such as blood type, have more than two alleles (blood has 3). Clover leaves. "Major Histocompatability" have hundreds. Epistasis: Epistatic traits require more than one gene to be manifested (have gene for black fur, but need the dominant allele to express the phenotype). Pleiotropy: One gene, many characters (Manx cat -- full tail, no tail, dead) -- also differences in red blood cells resulting in sickle cell anemia, but can also be completely normal, or even result in malaria resistance. Phenotype can express differently, due to environmental factors, even if the responsible genes are transmitted in a purely Mendelian fashion (this affects most genes in a complicated way that we didn't really discuss at length). One copy of each gene has to go into every gamete. This is one way we can ascertain evidence as to which alleles are independent of one another. Sex linked chromosomes were discovered in fruit flies. Analogous situations in human beings are colorblindness and hemophilia. Sex chromosomes do not determine gender, nor do they even determine sex characteristics in a consistent way across, between, or within species. Barr body -- deactivated X chromosome, in an organism with multiple X chromosomes. Which X chromosome gets deactivated is random, and also randomly dispersed across all cells in the body. Y chromosome carries very few genes. The rest are just "Junk DNA" Bateson and Punnett, in their flower experiments, confirmed a suspicion that Mendel's second law was occasionally inaccurate. They discovered that genes located close together on the same chromosome often assort dependently, not independently. Additionally, genes almost universally cross over, so if genes assort interdependently, they are most likely on the same chromosome. But they don't have to be. Here are the slides from this week

Let's talk about how we can work them into the writing process of this essay. Some considerations are:

• Inference and Implication
• Voice
• Readability
• Sentence order
• use of adjectives
• Declarative statements
• Intrigue (even though this is a very formulaic paper, there's still opportunity to draw the reader in.
• speaking of which, who is the imagined reader? Are they the "billionaire" mentioned in the prompt? Your TA? Each other? A younger sibling? The people who grow this so-called "fruit"?

The first thing to do in an essay like this is to assess what it's asking, then figure out the basic logic. What are the dynamics of the genetic data? Let's organize them. Then, based on the information from lecture, we should be able to take a position. Our position will be about genes on chromosomes, but it's the same as taking a position on something more political, cultural, or artistic. Look at the evidence, and offer a statement that illustrates what you think it might mean.

Our In-Class Writing Process:

1. Answer the prompt in a single sentence. Provide as detailed and complete an answer as possible, but don't stress too much if you have to leave something out.
2. Add to that sentence. What did you have to leave out? What did you include in that first sentence that could use more explanation? After these two sentences, we should have a pretty good approximation of a reasonable answer to this prompt.
3. Now write a third sentence. This one should be a "conclusion". Let this sentence expand on the idea, bring it out into the world beyond the prompt.
4. Read through the three sentences, and rewrite the whole thing in more natural language. Start over, expand on what you think needs expanding, and rephrase your overall statement in as much detail as you'd like, using as many sentences as you'd like (limiting the word count to 300 or so).

Assignment Done!