What is a Gene?

cell

Building block of all living things. Chromosomes are inside each cell.

thousands

The number of genes in humans that determine certain traits about you.

genetics

The study of genes.

heredity

The traits that you inherit or receive from your parents.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid; genes are strung together in long strands of this material; these long strands make up chromosomes.

chromosomes

Structures in the nucleus that hold information from an organism's parents. Most living things have pairs of these (one from each parent); humans have 23 pairs, but fruit flies only have 4. Made up of genes.

nucleus

The "brain" of a cell.

genes

The "set of instructions" found inside every cell of every living thing. These "instructions" explain what a plant or animal will look like, how it can survive, and how it will interact with its environment.