Question

1. practice: understanding traits and genes

discuss the law of segregation and explain why each organism has two copies of the gene for each trait expressed.

question 2
what type of experiments did mendel conduct, and what did he want to find out about the heritability of the seven traits he chose to study?

question 3
explain why its unknown which of two alleles an offspring will obtain from its biological mother or father for a given characteristic.

Explanation:

Question 1: The law of segregation states that during the formation of gametes, the two alleles for each trait separate so that each gamete carries only one allele. Organisms have two copies of each gene (alleles) for each trait because one is inherited from the mother and one from the father. This is due to sexual reproduction where gametes (sperm and egg) fuse, each contributing one allele for each gene.
Question 2: Mendel conducted hybridization experiments on pea plants. He crossed pure - breeding plants with different forms of a trait (e.g., tall and short plants). He wanted to find out how traits were passed from parents to offspring and the patterns of inheritance, specifically the ratios of different traits in the offspring generations.
Question 3: It's unknown which of two alleles an offspring will obtain from its biological mother or father for a given characteristic because the process of gamete formation (meiosis) involves random assortment of chromosomes and alleles. During meiosis, homologous chromosomes pair up and then separate randomly, and each gamete has an equal chance of receiving either allele.

Answer:

Question 1: The law of segregation is about allele separation during gamete formation. Organisms have two gene - copies per trait due to inheritance from both parents.
Question 2: Mendel did hybridization experiments on pea plants to study trait inheritance patterns.
Question 3: It's unknown because of random assortment during meiosis.