Biological_inheritance Biological_inheritance

Biological inheritance - Definition and Overview

Related Words: Mendelism, Allele, Birth, Birthright, Character, Chromatid, Chromatin, Chromosome, Codicil, Determinant, Determiner

Biological inheritance is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through inheritance, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause a species to evolve.

Mechanisms of inheritance:

  1. Genetic or Mendelian inheritance results from DNA replication and cell division.
  2. Epigenetic inheritance results from, among other things, DNA modifications such as gene silencing.
  3. non-Mendelian inheritance includes inheritance based on cytoplasmic substituents, including mitochondria and chloroplasts.

The study of biological inheritance is called genetics, which includes also epigenetics.


Example Usage of inheritance

Ohiscot1: meht and incest - errodes from wihin - check the stats on the rise since when with a larger demograph when - oh around inheritance day?
leftoutside: @ByrneTofferings http://wp.me/pvyGQ-8E An old post of mine on inheritance Tax and Entrepreneurship
nextleft: @grabcocque you are misinformed about the inheritance tax thresholds in yr attack on the new statesman; £2m here http://bit.ly/8YPPEn
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