PSYC 2110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Total Variation, Prenatal Development, Behavioural Genetics
10 Oct 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
An individual"s genotype is determined by the genes he or she inherits. An individual"s phenotype is the outward expression of the genotype and consists of a person"s observable or measurable characteristics: the genetic material. The new cell that is formed when a sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell is called a zygote. The zygote contains the genetic code that will change the single cell into a human being. There are 46 chromosomes in the nucleus of the zygote, each of which consists of thousands of genes. With the exception of the sex chromosomes, chromosomes exist as matching pairs, one derived from the mother"s egg cell and one derived from the father"s sperm cell. Genes are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid (dna). Dna molecules are able to replicate themselves, and this process permits the one-cell zygote to grow into a complex human being: growth of the zygote and production of body cells.
