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.