History
Area of psychology that uses genetic methods to study the nature and origins of individual differences in behavior.
Behavioral genetics
Two alleles at a site that are the same vs. different.
Homozygous and heterozygous.
The four nucleotide bases in DNA and their pairing rules.
A-T and C-G
Stable, cell-heritable changes in gene expression without altering DNA sequence.
Epigenetics.
Chromosome photography is typically done during this phase.
Metaphase
The long-standing debate about the extent to which differences are due to genes vs. environment.
The nature–nurture debate?
Mendel’s law stating alleles separate so each gamete carries one random allele.
The Law of Segregation.
Two-step flow of genetic information from DNA to protein.
Transcription and translation.
Chemical modification often found in CpG islands that typically represses transcription.
DNA methylation.
Notation “10q23.1” refers to this location.
Chromosome 10, long arm (q), band 23.1.
He applied Darwin’s ideas to psychology and, in Hereditary Genius, used pedigrees of eminent people to study inheritance.
Mode of inheritance where one carrier parent suffices to express the trait.
Autosomal dominant.
Expressed vs. intervening DNA sequences in a gene.
Exons and introns.
Hypothesis explaining why females don’t produce double X-linked gene products.
Lyon’s hypothesis (X-inactivation).
General term for having anything other than 46 chromosomes, often due to meiotic nondisjunction.
Aneuploidy.
The two misguided applications that undermined Galton’s goals.
Biological determinism and eugenics.
Neurodegenerative disorder mapped to repeat length; more repeats = earlier onset and greater severity.
Huntington's disease.
Type of genetic difference involving the amount of DNA (e.g., CNVs, indels).
Structural variation.
Rodent study where increased maternal grooming altered methylation related to stress responsivity.
Maternal grooming/demethylation finding.
The three autosomal trisomies that most commonly survive to birth.
13, 18, 21
1927 Supreme Court case that upheld Virginia’s sterilization law involving.
Buck v. Bell
Recessive metabolic disorder causing Phe buildup; managed by severe dietary restriction plus supplements.
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Contiguous-gene deletion syndrome with hypersociality, distinct facial features, cardiovascular issues.
Williams Syndrome.
Diet rich in methyl donors in pregnant mice alters offspring’s coat color and obesity risk by modifying this gene.
Agouti gene.
Link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s risk involves overexpression of a protein from this chromosome.
Chromosome 21 (amyloid protein genes)