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Learn key genetics terms so you can complete simple genetics problems! Transcript:
Before you can start doing genetics problems, there is some vocabulary you should know. Let’s go through some of these key terms so you have a good foundation.
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Genetics, Genes, and Alleles

Genes are segments of DNA that carry the instructions for making proteins, which in turn help determine traits. Organisms often have thousands of genes that influence things like eye color, hair color, height, and many other characteristics.
But it’s not just genes that shape who we are—environmental factors also play a role. For example, your height is partly genetic, but it can also be affected by nutrition and health.
Each gene can come in different versions, and those versions are called alleles.
So, for a gene that affects hair color, you might have a brown hair allele and a blonde hair allele, or for height, a tall allele and a short allele.
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Dominant vs. Recessive Alleles
In basic genetics problems, you'll often work with dominant and recessive alleles.
A dominant allele is one that shows up in the trait even if there’s only one copy of it. We usually represent dominant alleles with a capital letter—like capital B for brown hair.
A recessive allele is one that gets masked by a dominant allele. It only shows up in your traits if you inherit two copies—one from each parent. We use a lowercase letter to represent it, like lowercase b for blonde hair.
To keep things simple, we usually use the same letter for both alleles of a gene—uppercase for dominant, lowercase for recessive.
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Genotype and Phenotype
Now let’s talk about genotype and phenotype.
Your genotype is the combination of alleles you inherit from your parents. For example, if you get a big B from one parent and a little b from the other, your genotype is Bb.
Your phenotype is the physical trait that results from that combination—in this case, brown hair.
Here’s an easy way to remember it:
• Genotype sounds like "gene" → it’s your genetic code.
• Phenotype sounds like "physical" → it’s what you actually see.
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Homozygous vs. Heterozygous
Genotypes can be either homozygous or heterozygous.
• Homozygous means both alleles are the same.
o BB is homozygous dominant.
o bb is homozygous recessive.
• Heterozygous means the alleles are different—Bb.
A heterozygous individual carries a recessive allele but doesn't show that trait, because the dominant allele takes over.
These individuals are sometimes called carriers—they don’t express the recessive trait, but they can pass it on to their children.
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And that covers the most important vocabulary you'll need to get started with genetics!
In the next video, we’ll use these terms to solve simple genetics problems using dominant and recessive traits.

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