Genetics: Chromosomes, Meiosis and Mitosis, and Inheritance Patterns
MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach)
MedSchoolCoach
4.6 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2024
⏱️ 44 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
In this episode, we cover the foundational concepts of genetics, focusing on chromosomes, mitosis, meiosis, and inheritance patterns—important topics for the MCAT Bio/Biochem section. We’ll discuss how Gregor Mendel’s laws of segregation, independent assortment, and dominance influence inheritance and how Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection relates to modern genetics.
The episode includes an overview of chromosome structure, the differences between X and Y chromosomes, and the effects of chromosomal mutations like deletions, duplications, and translocations. Mitosis and meiosis are also explained, with an emphasis on their roles in cell division and genetic diversity. Additionally, we explore genetic concepts such as codominance, incomplete dominance, genetic leakage, and how factors like penetrance and expressivity influence gene expression.
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Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Introduction to Genetics and Chromosomes
(01:41) Background on genetics: Key figures and their contributions (Mendel, Darwin)
(03:37) Mendel’s Laws: Segregation, independent assortment, and dominance
(05:50) Charles Darwin: Evolution and natural selection in genetics
(09:43) Chromosomes and DNA: Discovery and role in inheritance
(11:29) Chromosome Numbers and Structure: Ploidy, chromatids, and human chromosomes
(14:06) X and Y Chromosomes: Sex determination and sex-linked traits
(18:34) Chromosomal Mutations: Duplication, deletion, inversion, translocation
(22:00) Mitosis: Stages and the production of identical daughter cells
(28:16) Meiosis: Gamete formation and genetic diversity
(32:40) Centrosome, Centromere, and Centriole: Roles in cell division
(33:50) Genes and Phenotypes: Alleles, genotypes, and their effect on traits
(38:28) Dominant and Recessive Alleles: How traits are determined
(40:37) Genetic Leakage, Penetrance, and Expressivity: Gene flow, expression likelihood, and variability
(42:47) MCAT Advice of the Day
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to MCAT basics, your ultimate guide to the essential topics you need to master for the MCAT, |
| 0:07.0 | brought to you by the physicians at med school coach. Every week, Sam Smith breaks down high-yield |
| 0:12.7 | MCAT topics, ensuring you're primed for success on test day. Join Sam as we explore the most |
| 0:18.5 | crucial subjects outlined by the AAMC, pulled from official |
| 0:22.0 | practice materials and third-party resources. |
| 0:24.7 | Get ready to elevate your MCAT game with topics tailored to maximize your score potential. |
| 0:30.0 | Hello, I'm Sam Smith. |
| 0:33.0 | This podcast is going to cover some basic laws that rule genetics, evolution, cromzone theory, mitosis, |
| 0:39.9 | and meiosis. And you should definitely pay attention there because that's a huge topic on the MCAT. |
| 0:44.8 | I'm also going to cover inheritance patterns. And this is one of those topics that's going to be |
| 0:49.3 | super high yield. You're going to see at least five of these kind of questions on the biological and |
| 0:54.9 | biochemical foundations of a living system section of the MCAT. |
| 0:58.6 | And just a note, it is very information dense. |
| 1:01.7 | So listen to this multiple times, listen to it forwards, backwards, inverse, whatever you |
| 1:05.9 | got to do to get the information into your brain. |
| 1:19.7 | All right, so the first thing I want to talk about here is a little bit of background on genetics of how the field kind of developed and what some important discoveries were and some |
| 1:23.8 | important scientists that first kind of worked in this field and first made a lot of |
| 1:28.1 | discoveries. And I'm going to talk a little bit about Mendel, Gregor Mendel, who was kind of known |
| 1:32.8 | as the father of genetics. And then I'm going to also talk about Charles Darwin and Walter Fleming. |
| 1:39.7 | So Gregor Mendel is a scientist that was alive and living in the 1800s and is most well known |
| 1:47.3 | for his experiments with pea plants. |
| 1:50.3 | So in Mendel's early experiments, he tried to kind of play with seven different careristics |
... |
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