Question

Define inheritance. Give statements for various laws of inheritance.

Answer 1

Definition: The transmission of genetic information from generation to generation is known as heredity or inheritance.

OR

The transmission of characters from one generation to the next or from parents to offsprings is called heredity.

1. Law of Dominance:
   When two homozygous individuals with one or more sets of contrasting characters are crossed, the alleles (characters) that appear in F₁ are dominant and those which do not appear in F₁ are recessive.
2. Law of Segregation of gametes or law of purity of gametes:
   The law states that, when hybrid (F₁) forms gametes, the alleles segregate from each other and enter in different gametes.
3. Law of Independent Assortment:
   The law states that, when a hybrid possessing two (or more) pairs of contrasting factors (alleles) forms gametes, the factors in each pair segregate independently of the other pair.

OR

The law of independent assortment states that, when two parents differing from each other in two or more pairs of contrasting characters are crossed, then the inheritance of one pair of characters is independent of the other pair of characters.