Artificial Selection

Question 1

Biological Change Over Time

Answer 1

• species have genetic variation, helping with long term survival
• muation are the cause of genetic variation and new genetic information
• can be neutral, ahrmful or helpful

Question 2

Types of Mutations

Answer 2

• Neutral Mutations provide no benefit or harm to the individual
  -Like if the mutation is in “junk” DNA
• Harmful Mutations reduce the reproductive success of the organism
  
  • Like Turner’s Syndrome
• Beneficial Mutations produce a change that gives the individual an advantage
  
  • Like Drug Resistant Bacteria

Question 3

Impact on Human Health

Answer 3

• Some mutations have serious consequences on human heath
• irus carry genetic information even though they are not “alive”
• This means they also are genetically variable and therefore can change over time
• Sometimes these mutations can increase the viruses virulence or ability to spread
• Every year we try and predict these changes so that effective vaccines can be developed

Question 4

Selective Breeding

Answer 4

-choosing parents with particular characteristics to breed together and produce offspring with more desirable characteristics
- Examples would include the domestication of dogs from wolves or wild sea cabbage to modern vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli

Question 5

Domestication

Answer 5

changing of members of a species to suit human needs through controlled captive breeding

Question 6

How Does artifical selection Work?

Answer 6

When a trait that is ideal is observed, that plant is chosen to reproduce
This means that that trait is more likely to show up in the next generation

Question 7

Artifcal slection abornigal people

Answer 7

• Aboriginals domesticated the tomato they selected seeds from plants that had larger and tastier fruit
• These plants would be cross pollinated and therefore large and tasty tomatoes became more and more common over time

Question 8

The Power of Artificial Selection

Answer 8

• Artificial selection can also produce individuals far beyond the natural variability within the original population
  
  • For example no Chihuahua sized wolves
• This needs to be done carefully though because artificial selection can reduce genetic diversity
  
  • This loss of diversity can make the populations more vulnerable to disease or extinction