Assignment 2

Assignment 2

-Please follow guidelines in syllabus regarding formatting.

1.) What are the main differences between meiosis and mitosis? Why did meiosis evolve as an evolutionary strategy? How does this relate to the film “Why Sex?” Why was this reason important to improving survival? Did this information or anything else in the film surprise you and why?

2.) Punnett Square - Complete both problems below.

-Diagram and complete a Punnett square

-Give the phenotype percentages of the offspring

- In dogs, hereditary deafness is caused by a recessive gene (d), while normal hearing is coded by the dominant gene (D). What would be the results if a heterozygous male mates with a heterozygous female? What are the chances that a deaf offspring will result?

- Considering that purple is dominant to white and using P for purple and p for white, draw a Punnett square crossing a heterozygous purple-flowered plant and a white-flowered plant.

3.) Read the section on genes and epigenetics carefully. What are epigenes/epigenetics and how do they differ from genes? Do epigenetics appear similar to any explanations of evolution that were covered in chapter two? If so, please explain the similarities. If lifestyle/environmental factors can affect how our genes work, what are the possible implications? Consider the factors mentioned in your textbook that may affect epigenetics.

4.) How are geography and malaria connected? How/why does the heterozygous condition provide additional protection? What has this additional protection lead to the increase of sickle cell anemia in certain geographic areas? Also, how may certain anthropogenic trends such as deforestation and climate change increase or decrease malaria rates?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/intelligent-design-trial.html