The Branches of genetics Are the classical, molecular, population, quantitative, ecological, developmental, microbial, behavioral genetics and genetic engineering.
The genetics Is the study of genes, genetic variation and inheritance in living organisms. It is generally considered a field of biology, but it frequently intersects with many other life sciences and is strongly linked with the study of information systems.
The father of genetics is Gregor Mendel , Scientist at the end of the 19th century and an Augustinian friar who studied the"inheritance of traits", patterns in the way in which the traits of parents are transmitted to the children.
He observed that organisms inherit traits through discrete"units of heredity", which are now known as genes or genes.
Genetic inheritance traits and mechanisms of molecular inheritance remain primary principles of genetics in the 21st century, but modern genetics has spread beyond heredity to study the function and behavior of genes.
Genetic structure and function, variation and distribution are studied within the context of the cell, the organism and within the context of a population.
The organisms studied within the broad fields encompass the domain of life, including bacteria, plants, animals and humans.
Main branches of genetics
Modern genetics has differed a lot from classical genetics, and to its credit has gone through certain areas of study that comprise more specific objectives related to other spaces of science.
Classical genetics
Classical genetics is the branch of genetics based solely on the visible results of reproductive acts.
It is the oldest discipline in the field of genetics, returning to the experiments on Mendelian inheritance of Gregor Mendel that allowed to identify the basic mechanisms of the inheritance.
Classical genetics consists of the techniques and methodologies of genetics that were in use before the advent of molecular biology.
A key finding of classical genetics in eukaryotes was genetic linkage. The observation that some genes do not segregate independently in meiosis broke the laws of Mendelian inheritance and provided science with a way of correlating features with a location on chromosomes.
Molecular Genetic
Molecular genetics is the branch of genetics that encompasses the order and trade of genes. Therefore it uses methods of molecular biology and genetics.
The study of chromosomes and the gene expression of an organism can give an idea of heredity, genetic variation and mutations. This is useful in the study of developmental biology and in the understanding and treatment of genetic diseases.
Population genetics
Population genetics is a branch of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is part of evolutionary biology.
Studies in this branch of genetics examine phenomena such as adaptation, speciation, and population structure.
Population genetics was a vital ingredient in the emergence of modern evolutionary synthesis. Its main founders were Sewall Wright, J. B. S. Haldane and Ronald Fisher, who also laid the foundations for the related discipline of quantitative genetics.
Traditionally it is a highly mathematical discipline. Modern population genetics encompasses theoretical, laboratory and field work.
Quantitative genetics
Quantitative genetics is a branch of population genetics that deals with continuously varying phenotypes (in characters such as height or mass) as distinct from discretely identifiable phenotypes and gene products (such as the color of the eyes or the presence of a particular biochemist ).
Ecological genetics
Ecological genetics is the study of how ecologically relevant traits evolve in natural populations.
Early research in ecological genetics showed that natural selection is often strong enough to generate rapid adaptive changes in nature.
The present work has broadened our understanding of the temporal and spatial scales in which natural selection can operate in nature.
Research in this field focuses on traits of ecological importance, that is, features related to fitness, which affect the survival and reproduction of an organism.
Examples could be: flowering time, tolerance to drought, polymorphism, mimicry, avoiding predator attacks, among others.
Genetic engineering
The genetic engineering , Also known as genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of the genome of an organism through biotechnology.
It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including gene transfer within and between species boundaries to produce new or improved organisms.
The new DNA is obtained by isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using molecular cloning methods or by artificially synthesizing the DNA. A clear example resulting from this branch is the world-famous sheep Dolly.
Developmental genetics
Genetics of development is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop.
Developmental genetics also encompasses the biology of regeneration, asexual reproduction and metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of mother cells In the adult organism.
Microbial genetics
Microbial genetics is a branch within the microbiology And genetic engineering. It studies the genetics of very small microorganisms; Bacteria, archaea, viruses and some protozoa and fungi.
This implies the study of the genotype of the microbial species and also the system of expression in the form of phenotypes.
Since the discovery of microorganisms by two Fellows of the Royal Society, Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek during the period 1665-1885, they have been used to study many processes and have had applications in various areas of study in genetics.
Behavioral genetics
Behavioral genetics, also known as behavioral genetics, is a field of scientific research that uses genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in behavior.
While the name"behavioral genetics"connotes a focus on genetic influences, the field extensively investigates genetic and environmental influences, using research designs that allow the elimination of the confusion of genes and the environment.
References
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