genetics: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026

News •

Proposed computer framework could connect Alzheimer's data to guide personalized care • Oct. 19, 2026, 11:20 AM ET (Medical Xpress)

What happens when brain tumors return? International study tracks genetic changes behind recurring cancers • Oct. 14, 2026, 5:50 PM ET (Medical Xpress)

Photos and Videos

Diagram illustrating sex-linked inheritance of white and red eye color in Drosophila fruit flies, showing genetic crosses between white-eyed and red-eyed males and females, with chromosomes and resulting eye color traits mapped through two generations.

A step-by-step diagram shows donor DNA and vector DNA cut with restriction enzymes to create overhangs, mixed and sealed with ligase to form recombinant DNA, which is introduced into bacterial cells. The recombinant DNA replicates as the cells divide, producing clones.

This diagram illustrates the cloning process of Dolly the sheep in 1996, showing how a nucleus from an adult Finn Dorset ewe was fused with an enucleated egg cell from a Scottish Blackface ewe, then implanted into a surrogate to produce Dolly.

Miescher, Friedrich

Mendel's law of segregation

McClintock, Barbara

The initial proposal of DNA structure

Diagram of a DNA polynucleotide chain showing linked deoxyribose sugars, phosphate groups, and nitrogenous bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine), with an inset comparing ribose and uracil in RNA.

Study DNA's double helix structure to learn how the organic chemical determines an organism's traits

How the DNA Thermal Cycler Uses PCR to Copy DNA Strands

Understanding genetics with pea plants and the Punnett square

Four kittens with different fur patterns-three tabby and one black-and-white-lying together in a box, illustrating genetic variation among offspring.

How does a robotic pipeline for bacterial genetics help scientists at University College Cork?

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Topics

molecular genetics classical genetics ecological genetics immunogenetics microbial genetics human genetics eugenics genetic epidemiology genomics epigenomics Philosophy of biology medicine taxonomy Zoology Microbiology Morphology Biochemistry Physiology botany ecology

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Key People

Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel

botanist

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Ian Wilmut

British biologist

Thomas Hunt Morgan

Thomas Hunt Morgan

American biologist

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Bruce Ames

American biochemist and geneticist

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Lancelot Thomas Hogben

English scientist

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Theodosius Dobzhansky

American scientist

Venter, J. Craig

J. Craig Venter

American geneticist, biochemist, and businessman

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Fred H. Gage

American geneticist

Weismann, August

August Weismann

German biologist

Francis Collins

Francis Collins

American geneticist

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Stephen J. Elledge

American geneticist

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Alexander Gordon Bearn

British-born American physician and geneticist

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Evelyn M. Witkin

American geneticist

“Father of the green revolution” in India

M.S. Swaminathan

Indian scientist

Hwang Woo Suk and Gerald Schatten

Hwang Woo-Suk

South Korean scientist

James Watson, c. 1990

James Watson

American geneticist and biophysicist

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Hermann Joseph Muller

American geneticist

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Edith Rebecca Saunders

British botanist and geneticist

Gary Ruvkun reacts after learning that he is a winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Gary Ruvkun

American molecular biologist and geneticist

Svante Pääbo

Svante Pääbo

Swedish evolutionary geneticist

greylag. Flock of Greylag geese during their winter migration at Bosque del Apache National Refugee, New Mexico. greylag goose (Anser anser)

Biology Bonanza

DNA helix in a futuristic concept of the evolution of science and medicine.

Branches of Genetics

Illustrated strands of DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid, biology.

Genetics Quiz