Genetic

Historically speaking, genetics is a young science. The principles of inheritance from one generation to the next were only defined 150 years ago. DNA was only decoded in the 1950s.

Genetics or heredity is the science that studies the transmission of traits from one generation to the next. The genes of an organism are the basic units of heredity.

Genetics is divided into four major areas:

• Classical or Mendelian genetics: describes how typical traits are passed on from one generation to the next
• Molecular genetics: the study of the chemical and physical structure of DNA, RNA and the encoded proteins. Molecular genetics also deals with how genes work.
• Population genetics: field of genetics that deals with the genetic make-up of large groups
• Quantitative genetics: mathematical field that deals with the statistical relationships between genes and the traits they encode.