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Standard Area - TECH: Learning Standards for Technology
(see MST standards under Previous Standard Versions)-
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Introduction - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.Introduction:
Organisms from all kingdoms possess a set of instructions (genes) that determines their characteristics. These instructions are passed from parents to offspring during reproduction. Students are familiar with simple mechanisms related to the inheritance of some physical traits in offspring. They are now able to begin to understand the molecular basis of heredity and how this set of instructions can be changed through recombination, mutation, and genetic engineering.
The inherited instructions that are passed from parent to offspring exist in the form of a code. This code is contained in DNA molecules. The DNA molecules must be accurately replicated before being passed on. Once the coded information is passed on, it is used by a cell to make proteins. The proteins that are made become cell parts and carry out most functions of the cell.
Throughout recorded history, humans have used selective breeding and other biotechnological methods to produce products or organisms with desirable traits. Our current understanding of DNA extends this to the manipulation of genes leading to the development of new combinations of traits and new varieties of organisms.
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Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1a:
Genes are inherited, but their expression can be modified by interactions with the environment. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1b:
Every organism requires a set of coded instructions for specifying its traits. For offspring to resemble their parents, there must be a reliable way to transfer information from one generation to the next. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1c:
Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell. An inherited trait of an individual can be determined by one or by many genes, and a single gene can influence more than one trait. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes in its nucleus. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1d:
In asexually reproducing organisms, all the genes come from a single parent. Asexually produced offspring are normally genetically identical to the parent. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1e:
In sexually reproducing organisms, the new individual receives half of the genetic information from its mother (via the egg) and half from its father (via the sperm). Sexually produced offspring often resemble, but are not identical to, either of their parents. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1f:
In all organisms, the coded instructions for specifying the characteristics of the organism are carried in DNA, a large molecule formed from subunits arranged in a sequence with bases of four kinds (represented by A, G, C, and T). The chemical and structural properties of DNA are the basis for how the genetic information that under- lies heredity is both encoded in genes (as a string of molecular "bases") and replicated by means of a template. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1g:
Cells store and use coded information. The genetic information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1h:
Genes are segments of DNA molecules. Any alteration of the DNA sequence is a mutation. Usually, an altered gene will be passed on to every cell that develops from it. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1i:
Offspring resemble their parents because they inherit similar genes that code for the production of proteins that form similar structures and perform similar functions. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1j:
The work of the cell is carried out by the many different types of molecules it assembles, mostly proteins. Protein molecules are long, usually folded chains made from 20 different kinds of amino acids in a specific sequence. This sequence influences the shape of the protein. The shape of the protein, in turn, determines its function. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.2.1k:
The many body cells in an individual can be very different from one another, even though they are all descended from a single cell and thus have essentially identical genetic instructions. This is because different parts of these instructions are used in different types of cells, and are influenced by the cell's environment and past history.
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