After food has been masticated in the oral cavity, where does it go next?

Mendel developed theories of genetics that scientists around the world use today.

From experiments with garden peas, Mendel developed a simple set of rules that accurately predicted patterns of heredity. He discovered that plants eitherself-pollinateorcross-pollinate, when the pollen from one plant fertilizes the pistil of another plant. He also discovered that traits are eitherdominantorrecessive. Dominant traits are expressed, and recessive traits are hidden.

Mendel’s Theory of Heredity

To explain his results, Mendel proposed a theory that has become the foundation of the science of genetics. The theory has five elements:

• Parents do not transmit traits directly to their offspring. Rather, they pass on units of information calledgenes.
• For each trait, an individual has two factors: one from each parent. If the two factors have the same information, the individual ishomozygousfor that trait. If the two factors are different, the individual isheterozygousfor that trait. Each copy of a factor, orgene, is called anallele.
• The alleles determine the physical appearance, orphenotype. The set of alleles an individual has is itsgenotype.
• An individual receives one allele from each parent.
• The presence of an allele does not guarantee that the trait will be expressed.

A sensory nerveis a nerve that carries sensory signals from the external environment to the brain to the central nervous system. It is also an afferent nerve, long dendrites of sensory neurons, which sends sensory information towards the central nervous system (CNS). This information is what is sensed, using the five senses from external environment, sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

Motor nerveshave onlyefferent fibers, long axons of motor neurons, that carry impulses away from the CNS to the effectors, which are typically tissues and muscles of the body.

Interneuronsarenerve cellsthat act as a bridge between motor and sensory neurons in the CNS. These neurons help form neural circuits, which helps neurons communicate with each other.

Skeletal muscle: This muscle cell is striated, long, and cylindrical. There are many nuclei in a skeletal muscle cell. Attached to bones in the body, skeletal muscle contracts voluntarily, meaning that it is under conscious control.

Smooth muscle: This muscle consists of nonstriated muscle cells that are spindle-shaped. Like cardiac muscle cells, smooth muscle cells contain one nucleus. This muscle type is found in the walls of internal organs like the bladder and stomach. Smooth muscle contraction is involuntary and controlled by the autonomic nervous system.

Cardiac muscle: This muscle consists of muscle cells that are striated, short, and branched. These cells contain one nucleus, are branched, and are rectangular. Cardiac muscle contraction is an involuntary process, which is why it is under the control of the autonomic nervous system. This muscle is found in the walls of the heart.

Inductive reasoning involves making specific observations and using them to make broad statements. The student observes that all of the tigers have the same stripe pattern. He can use this observation to make the broad statement that all the tigers’ offspring will have the same stripe pattern.

Inductive reasoninginvolves drawing a general conclusion from specific observations. This form of reasoning is referred to as the “from the bottom up” approach. Information gathered from specific observations can be used to make a general conclusion about the topic under investigation. In other words, conclusions are based on observed patterns in data.

Nitrogen and oxygen are both nonmetals, which means they will share electrons in a covalent bond. For example, two oxygen atoms form a double bond, in which two pairs of electrons (four electrons total) are shared. Similarly, two nitrogen atoms form a molecule with a triple bond, in which three pairs of electrons (six electrons total) are shared. 

The autonomic nervous systemis responsible for activities that arenonvoluntaryand under unconscious control. This system controls glands and the smooth muscles of internal organs, heart rate, breathing, and digestion. The autonomic nervous system is further divided into the following:

• Sympathetic nervous system: The sympathetic nervous system focuses on emergency situations by preparing the body forfight or flight. (Sympathetic = Stress)
• Parasympathetic nervous system: The parasympathetic nervous system controls involuntary processes unrelated to emergencies. This system deals with “rest or digest” activities. (Parasympathetic = Peace)

Thesomatic nervous systemprimarily controlsvoluntaryactivities such as walking and riding a bicycle. Thus, this system sends information to the CNS and motor nerve fibers that are attached to skeletal muscle.

The primary function of the respiratory system is to provide oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from the body. In addition to gas exchange, the respiratory system enables a person to breathe. Breathing, or inhalation, is essential to life. It is the mechanism that provides oxygen to the body. Without oxygen, cells are unable to perform their functions necessary to keep the body alive. The primary muscle of inspiration is the diaphragm. Known as the chest cavity, this dome shaped structure flattens when it contracts. The rib cage moves outward, allowing outside air to be drawn into the lungs. During relaxation, the diaphragm returns to its dome shape and the rib cage moves back to its natural position. This causes the chest cavity to push air out of the lungs.

The respiratory system can be functionally divided into two parts:

• Air-conducting portion: Air is delivered to the lungs. This region consists of the upper and lower respiratory tract—specifically, the larynx, trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles.
• Gas exchange portion: Gas exchange takes place between the air and the blood. This portion includes the lungs, alveoli, and capillaries.

The primary organ of the urinary system is the kidney. Blood from the heart flows through the kidneys via the renal artery. As blood drains from the kidney, it exits through a series of veins, the most prominent of which is the renal vein. When urine is produced, it does not drain through the tubes through which blood flows. Rather, urine flows through two ureters before emptying into the urinary bladder.

The following steps outline how the urinary system works:

• Kidney filters and excretes wastes from blood, producing urine.
• Urine flows down the ureters.
• Urine empties into the bladder and is temporarily stored.
• Bladder, when filled, empties urine out of the body via the urethra.

Theaging processaffects hormone activity in one of three ways: their secretion can decrease, remain unchanged, or increase.

Hormones thatdecrease secretioninclude the following:

• Estrogen (in women)
• Testosterone (in men)
• Growth hormone
• Melatonin

Inwomen, the decline in estrogen levels leads to menopause. Inmen, testosterone levels usually decrease gradually. Decreased levels of growth hormone may lead to decreased muscle mass and strength. Decreased melatonin levels may play an important role in the loss of normal sleep-wake cycles (circadian rhythms) with aging.

Hormones that usually remainunchangedorslightly decreaseinclude the following:

• Cortisol
• Insulin
• Thyroid hormones

Hormones that mayincrease secretionslevels include the following:

Parathyroid hormone

• Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
• Luteinizing hormone (LH)
• Norepinephrine
• Epinephrine, in the very old

The sequence of amino acids in a gene determines the primary structure of a protein. The components necessary fortranslationare located in the cytoplasm. Translation is the making of proteins by mRNA binding to a ribosome with the start codon that initiates the production of amino acids. Apeptide bondforms and connects the amino acids together. The sequence of amino acids determines the protein’s structure, which determines its function.