Week 2 Flashcards
(50 cards)
adam and eve
According to the Bible (Genesis 2–3), the first two people are Adam (man) and Eve (life). They inhabit The
Garden of Eden, with a Tree of Life and a Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the center. They are instructed not
to eat the fruit of the latter tree, but they do so anyway and are subsequently cursed and expelled from the garden. This
forms the basis for the traditional origin myth of Jews, Muslims and Christians.
adaptation
A fit between the organism and environment
allele
A genetic variant.
blending inheritance
Heredity conceptualized as a mixture of fluids. Its opposite would be particulate inheritance, where heredity is regarded as the interaction of discrete elements and provides the basis of Mendelian genetics
canalization
The tendency of a growing organism to be buffered toward normal development
Descent with Modification:
Darwin’s term for what we now call “evolution,” in which animals and plants look different from their ancestors.
epigenetics
The study of how genetically identical cells and organisms (with the same DNA base sequence) can nevertheless differ in stably inherited ways.
epistemes
Fundamental cultural ideas, which organize the world and help to render it meaningful. Similar to paradigm.
eugenics
: An idea that was popular in the 1920s that society should be improved by breeding better kinds of people.
evo–devo
The study of the origin of form; a contraction of “evolutionary developmental biology.”
exaptation
An additional beneficial use for a biological feature.
extinction
The loss of a species from the face of the earth
fonder effect
The reduced genetic diversity that results when a population is descended from a small number of ancestors.
gene
A stretch of DNA with an identifiable function (sometimes broadened to include any DNA with recognizable structural features as well)
gene flow
Geographical movement of genes, due to the contact of populations.
gene pool
Hypothetical summation of the entire genetic composition of population or species.
genetic drift
Random, short-term perturbations to the gene pool, with nonadaptive effects
genotype
Genetic constitution of an individual organism
heredirarianism
The idea that genes or ancestry is the most crucial or salient element in a human life. Generally associated with an argument for natural inequality on pseudo-genetic grounds.
homology
Correspondence of parts between species due to the mutual inheritance of a primordial form from a common ancestor
inheritance of acquired characteristics
The idea that you pass on the features that developed during your lifetime, not just your genes; also known as Lamarckian inheritance.
monogenism
The idea that all people share a common single origin
mutation
An alteration to the base sequence of DNA.
natural selection
A consistent bias in survival and fertility, leading to the over-representation of certain features in future generations and an improved fit between an average member of the population and the environment.
