Probabilistic Methods for Bioinformatics

Chapter 4Genetics Basics

In this chapter we review the basics of genetics necessary to an understanding of the rest of this text. This is only a brief overview. You are referred to [Griffiths et al., 2007] for a thorough treatment.

4.1 Organisms and Cells

We start by discussing fundamental definitions concerning living entities.

4.1.1 Basic Definitions

An organism is an individual form of life such as a plant, animal, bacterium, protist, or fungus. A cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms. The cell nucleus is a membrane-bound structure inside the cell.

Figure 4.1: A depiction of mitosis in a diploid cell of an organism ...