ANT 2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Cytosine, Caffeine, Molecular Genetics
1 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Genetic mutation is the ultimate source of new biological variation. Knowledge about mutations caused some to reject natural selection as a mechanism of change. In the 1930s genetics and darwinian theory was wedded in what was called the new. Both are relevant: natural selection operates on variations created by mutations (and other sources) Molecular structure and the function of genetic information. To understand what mutations are and how they contribute new biological variation to populations, we have to look at genetics as the encoding and transformation of information about organic structure and function. Genetics provides the blueprint for reproduction, growth, and development of organisms. Cells are the basic structural, functional, and biological units of all known living organisms. A cell is the smallest unit of life that can replicate independently. Each cell contains a nucleus that contains genetic material called deoxyribonucleic acid or dna for short. Transmits information from generation to generation of cells (growth and replacement)
