Genotype And Phenotype: How Genes Determine Traits In Organisms

Define the terms genotype and phenotype.

The genotype is the genetic makeup of an organism. The genotype represents the gene that your father gave you and the gene that your mother gave you. The phenotype is the physical characteristic of an organism. You could have a dimple or you could also NOT have a dimple. In either case, having a dimple or not having a dimple are two examples of a phenotype.

Genotype refers to the genetic makeup of an organism, which includes the complete set of genes inherited from its parents. It determines the traits and characteristics that an organism may develop, which may or may not be expressed visibly or physically. For instance, when considering the genes for eye color, an individual may have one gene for brown eyes from one parent and one gene for blue eyes from the other parent. In this case, the individual’s genotype would be a combination of these two genes.

Phenotype, on the other hand, refers to the set of traits and characteristics that are expressed by an organism based on its genotype and the environment. These can be both physical and observable (such as height, eye color, and facial features) or non-observable (such as metabolic processes and behavioral traits). Using our previous example of the eye color gene, if the individual’s actual eye color is brown, then their phenotype for eye color is brown. This means that the individual’s genes for brown eyes were expressed and visible physically.

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