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Dr Fosters’ research group frequently sets up fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) crossing experiments to study inherited characteristics including eye color inheritance. In the lab they cross a population of red-eyed female flies with white-eyed male flies to observe the F1 generation, then cross the F1 offspring to further investigate the F2 phenotypic ratios. Her lab assistant, Alice is preparing vials, sorting adult flies as you want in the lab with the other students to discuss fundamental genetics concepts that have wide applicability.

You: ‘Alice, I’ve noticed you have freckles and fair skin. Do those traits ran in your family?’ 

Alice: ‘Actually, my freckles come from my mother’s side of the family, and my fair complexion is similar my father’s side of the family. Lately I have been wondering how I ended up with these traits? Did you cover this at the university yet?’

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You: ‘We went over the topic of genetics and inheritance last week. It’s exciting to connect these lessons with the experiments we’re running here.’

Dr. Foster: ‘That’s great. Since we’re looking at how specific traits distribute in our lab samples, how would you define genetics in precise terms?’

You try to explain the correct definition, referring back to your course notes:

Definition 1: It is the study of our DNA information which is passed down from one generation to the next.

Definition 2: It is the study of genetic traits affected by certain genes which are passed down from one generation to the next.