Welcome to BIO 160: Heredity! In this course we will explore the mysteries of heredity. Heredity is a subject everyone knows a little bit about. If your dog lays an egg, or your dog gives birth to a donkey, you'll probably pass out. You may look a lot like one of your parents. You definitely inherited your parents' characteristics. Even when these are not so obvious, you still notice some giveaway traits of your ancestry. In cases of doubted parentage, blood tests, or more accurately, DNA testings are conducted. What may not be obvious at first becomes established as a 99.999 likelihood of parentage, and we might as well accept this as a probability of 100% or 1, which is a CERTAINTY.

We will also see how the science of heredity has developed to its present state over the years, and the role that different individuals have played in its development. Moreover, we will see why some short parents may have short offspring, and vice versa. If both my wife and I have the same eye color, how come we have children whose eye colors are different from ours? Well, good question! Why do some diseases run in some families or ethnic groups? Why do offspring of the same parents have similar or different characteristics? Why is everybody so different from the other if they are not identical twins? Why are some people so calm and others so aggressive? Why are some people born with certain inherent genetic disorders? As we go through this adventure into human inheritance, we will also draw examples from other organisms, including plants, animals, and even bacteria.

We also want to explore the nature of the genetic material. So many variety of dogs- what's their origin? These and other questions will lead you to get into the "roots of the matter."

What is DNA fingerprinting and how is it used to either conclusively nail criminals or free innocent people who had been wrongly convicted? DNA, the molecule of heredity is quite a marvel! When we have studied this molecule, we will see how similar or different it could be from one type of living form to the other. You probably know that pieces of DNA could be cut from human genome and inserted into that of a bacterium! Genetic Engineering! How this process is carried out in the lab and why anyone would want to do it is one of the issues we are going to address during this course.

Not only will you be able to appreciate the diversity of life forms you encounter everyday, you will also be able to appreciate the underlying causes of their structure and behavior.

You will understand why people behave differently, even if they were raised under the same set of conditions. You will be able to understand and respect differences among humans, and among other living forms.

Like all other courses, you will need to learn a number of terms, which are easily explained. You should not allow any of these terms to escape you, so that you can have a sound understanding of the subject matter. If you happen to have any difficulty learning any of the concepts, giving up, or the very thought of it is not an option! Go ahead and ask questions.