Genetics

 The first misconception I had was about mutation. I believed, for whatever reason, I’m not sure, that all mutations were bad things. This is obviously not the case because mutations can be negative, neutral, or even positive to the animal. The other misconception I had was with inheritance/genetics. I have I did not understand allele frequency or anything that allows the genes getting passed down to be anything but the same.

 

For my misconception about mutation, it was an “ah-ha” moment when I first learned that mutations could have positive, negative, and neutral effects on its animal. I guess where I still have some confusion is if mutations can switch through lifetimes from positive to negative mutations or positive to neutral mutations.

 

For my misconception about why not all genes are passed down, it was a gradual understanding of allele frequency and the randomness that is involved. I guess what I still don’t understand is more about why certain things get passed down to one offspring and why certain things get passed down to another offspring. I think there is so much to learn still about genetic frequency and am glad to learn it.