Genetics is said to be both a very old science and a very young science. Explain what is meant by this statement.

Describe some of the ways in which your own genetic makeup affects you as a person. Be as specific as you can.

Outline some of the ways in which genetics is important to all of us.

Are mutations good or bad? Explain your answer.

How does the picture in $\text{\blue{Figure 1.6a}}$ illustrate transmission genetics?

For each of the following genetic topics, indicate whether it focuses on transmission genetics, molecular genetics, or population genetics.
a. Analysis of pedigrees to determine the probability of someone inheriting a trait
b. Study of people on a small island to determine why a genetic form of asthma is prevalent on the island
c. Effect of nonrandom mating on the distribution of genotypes among a group of animals
d. Examination of the nucleotide sequences found at the ends of chromosomes
e. Mechanisms that ensure a high degree of accuracy in DNA replication
f. Study of how the inheritance of traits encoded by genes on sex chromosomes (sex-linked traits) differs from the inheritance of traits encoded by genes on nonsex chromosomes (autosomal traits)

In cats, curled ears result from an allele $(\mathrm{Cu})$ that is dominant over an allele $(\mathrm{cu})$ for normal ears. Black color results from an independently assorting allele $(G)$ that is dominant over an allele for gray $(g)$. A gray cat homozygous for curled ears is mated with a homozygous black cat with normal ears. All the $\mathrm{F}_1$ cats are black and have curled ears. a. If two of the $F_1$ cats mate, what phenotypes and proportions are expected in the $\mathrm{F}_2$?

Figure 3.8 shows the results of a cross between a tall pea plant and a short pea plant.
a. What phenotypes and proportions will be produced if a tall F1 plant is backcrossed to the short parent?
b. What phenotypes and proportions will be produced if a tall F1 plant is backcrossed to the tall parent?

How are genetics and evolution related?

Summarize the relations between genes, DNA, and chromosomes.

What are the two basic cell types (from a structural perspective) and how do they differ?

Briefly explain the contribution that each of the following people made to the study of genetics.
a. Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann
b. August Weismann
c. Gregor Mendel
d. James Watson and Francis Crick
e. Kary Mullis

List some advances in genetics made in the twentieth century.

How did developments in botany in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries contribute to the rise of modern genetics?