Anthropology Lab_ Terms (Week 2)

Anthropology Lab: Terms (Week 2) Prokaryote - Organism (bacteria) that has a cell without a nucleus & is often made of only a single cell Eukaryote - Organism (plant/animal/human) that is made of many cells that have cell nuclei Nucleus - The area inside a eukaryotic cell that contains most of the cells DNA DNA - The chemical that acts as the genetic blueprint for an organism Nuclear DNA - The DNA found in the nucleus of the cell Organelle - A type of cell part with its own function, like an organ of the body Mitochondria - Cell organelles that produce energy for the cell & that contain their own DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) - The DNA found in mitochondria that is passed from mother's to offspring Chromosome - A tightly coiled strand of DNA within the cell nucleus Chromatid - A single chromosome fiber that duplicates & occurs in pairs when a cell is about to divide Centromere - The contracted area of a chromosome , whose position varies from one chromosome to the next, useful in distinguishing chromosomes Autosome - A chromosome other than one of the sex chromosomes Homologous pair - A set of matching chromosomes with similar types of genetic information, similar lengths, & similar centromere positions Cytoplasm - Various cell parts are suspended in a fluid Endoplasmic Reticulum - Organelle near the nucleus/ ribosomes are important places of protein synthesis Sex chromosomes - One of the two diff. chromosomes (X/Y) involved in determination of an organism's biological sex

X chromosomes - The larger of the two sex chromosomes, having genetic info. related to a wild range of traits Y chromosomes - The smaller of the two sex chromosomes, having genetic info. that codes prima for traits related to maleness Nucleotide - A set of linked phosphate, sugar, & nitrogen base molecules in DNA Adenine - One of the nitrogen bases in DNA; it's complement is thymine Thymine - One of the nitrogen bases in DNA, its complement is adenine Guanine - One of the nitrogen bases in DNA, its complement is cytosine Cytosine - One of the nitrogen bases in DNA, its complement is guanine Gene - A section of DNA that codes for a particular trait Allele - An alternate version of a gene Karyotype - The picture of an individuals stained chromosomes, arranged in homologous pairs & laid out in order from largest to smallest DNA replication - The process whereby DNA is copied Somatic cell - A non sex cell that makes up diff. body parts, also called body cell Gamete - A sex cell (in humans, sperm, or egg) Mitosis - The process of cell divisions that occurs in somatic cells Meiosis - The process of cell division that produces gametes Crossing -Over - The stage in meiosis during which genetic information is exchanged between the two chromosomes in a homologous pair Genetic Recombination - The mixing of genetic info. into new combinations that occurs during meiosis Protein Synthesis - The process of determining proteins from a DNA sequence Transcription - The 1st step of protein synthesis where nuclear DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA that can leave the cell nucleus