What this event is about
Classic and molecular genetics: Punnett squares, pedigrees, meiosis, DNA → protein, and related lab/tech topics from the rules.
Study plan
Setup (team of 2, ~50 min, Class II calculator, one double-sided 8.5×11 note sheet)
- Note sheet: Punnett templates, pedigree symbols, codon chart, HW formulas, PCR/Sanger comparison — rules topics are exhaustive, so stay on-list.
- Mendelian: Mendel’s laws; mono- and dihybrid Punnett squares; genotype/phenotype probabilities from Punnett and data; read and construct pedigrees (dominant/recessive, autosomal/sex-linked).
- State & Nationals only (Mendelian extras): linkage, incomplete/codominance, complementation; recessive epistasis and phenotype prediction.
- Mitosis vs meiosis stages/structures; interpret human karyotypes.
- Molecular DNA: nucleotide/backbone, 5′/3′ directionality, base pairing; replication fork/elongation/proofreading; plasmids, chromatin, eu-/heterochromatin, chromosomes; mutations (rearrangements, indels, substitutions) and protein effects (frameshift, silent, missense, nonsense).
- State & Nationals only: UVA/UVB damage and nucleotide excision repair.
- Gene ↔ protein: Central Dogma; transcription (initiation/elongation/termination, RNA pol, activators/repressors, splicing/capping/polyA); translation (ribosome, mRNA/tRNA stages).
- State & Nationals: lac operon. Nationals only: trp operon.
- Population genetics: Hardy–Weinberg assumptions/calculations; drift, founder/bottleneck, migration, relative fitness. State & Nationals: additive alleles/continuous variation and estimating gene number.
- Tech: PCR denaturation/annealing/extension, temperature, components, experimental uses. State & Nationals: Sanger vs PCR differences and uses. Timed quantitative practice weekly.
Tips
Box your genotypes and phenotypes. Miscounting gametes is the #1 speed killer.