Questions and Answers
What is the primary measure of an individual's fitness in the context of natural selection?
The number of offspring an individual produces that survive long enough to reproduce.
How do humans influence the evolution of certain populations to acquire desired traits?
Through selective breeding, which is a form of artificial selection.
What is the primary goal of biotechnology, as it relates to organisms?
To produce useful products.
What is a common characteristic among domestic cats, despite their varying appearances?
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What is the origin of most of the food we eat?
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Study Notes
Fitness in Natural Selection
- Fitness refers to an individual's contribution to the gene pool of the next generation by producing offspring that survive and reproduce.
- High fitness means an organism will survive, reproduce, and pass on its advantageous genes to its offspring, who will also survive and reproduce.
Artificial Selection and Biotechnology
- Humans can exert selective pressure on populations to improve or modify desirable traits through selective breeding.
- Selective breeding and artificial selection are forms of biotechnology.
- Biotechnology involves using technology and organisms to produce useful products.
Examples of Selective Breeding
- Most of the food we eat comes from selectively bred species, such as:
- Cows that produce more milk
- Chickens that grow rapidly (more muscle, more meat)
- Domestic cats are bred for appearance, but they are all the same species: Felis domesticus, and can interbreed.
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Description
Understanding natural selection, fitness, and how humans influence evolution through artificial selection and biotechnology.
