Introduction

• Genetics is the scientific study of genes and heredity—of how certain qualities or traits are passed from parents to offspring as a result of changes in DNA sequence.
• A gene is a segment of DNA that contains instructions for building one or more molecules that help the body work.
• Heredity is the study of transmission of characters from one generation to another.
• The difference between parent and offspring or among the offspring of the same parent is called variation.
• The term “Genetics” was coined by William Bateson in 1905.