5th Year Biology students and TY attend Genetics Lecture

The TY Biology class went with the fifth year Biology students to Dublin Zoo on Tuesday, 10th December. We got a lecture on  genetics from Eanna Ní Lamhna. Our lecture started with a PowerPoint on animals and how certain animals are genetically related to us. I found out that we are 92% identical to the great ape and only 1.4% different to chimpanzees. These statistics are really surprising. I never realised how genetically similar we are to some animals. She also told us how there are five different species of tiger in captivity in California for conservation. They discovered that the five different species are all related and are in fact the same species but they have slight differences in their appearance because they live in different areas and suit their environment.

We also learned a lot about cell division which is also known as mitosis. She explained to us the amount of male and female chromosomes. She also taught us about DNA and genes. Dominant means that the allele prevents the recessive allele from working. Recessive means that the allele is prevented from working by a dominant allele. 

Overall I found the lecture very interesting and informative and I feel like I've learned a lot about genetics. (Click on blog title to see more photos.)
Isabelle Cahill (TY)