Detail of genetics on mcat?

[Uzr]

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I've read some mixed responses on this. People say that there's a lot of genetics on the mcat but I'm reading the EK bio book and it only has one small chapter on genetics which I'm fairly sure I learned back in grade 11 or 12.

Admittedly, I'm not that good at it anymore so I need a good resource which guides me through the practise questions but in terms of theory...is it basically just what's in the EK book or do I need more?

Also are the genetics questions usually based on calculations (eg: What % are carriers; what fraction will display a phenotype etc) in which case I need some help or are they mostly theory based in which case I'm okay (took an evolutionary bio course and did well in it because it was theory but didn't do as good in regular genetics).

 

[BB8730]

Here is a comprehensive list of genetics concepts tested. I just copied and pasted from the AAMC topic list for BS.

GENETICS
A. Mendelian Concepts
1. Phenotype and genotype (definitions, probability calculations, pedigree analysis)
2. Gene
3. Locus
4. Allele (single, multiple)
5. Homozygosity and heterozygosity
6. Wild type
7. Recessiveness
8. Complete dominance
9. Codominance
10. Incomplete dominance, leakage, penetrance, expressivity
11. Gene pool
B. Meiosis and Genetic Variability
1. Significance of meiosis
2. Important differences between meiosis and mitosis
3. Segregation of genes
a. independent assortment
b. linkage
c. recombination
d. single crossovers
e. double crossovers
4. Sex-linked characteristics
a. very few genes on Y chromosome
b. sex determination
c. cytoplasmic inheritance, mitochondrial inheritance
5. Mutation
a. general concept of mutation
b. types of mutations (random, translation error, transcription error, base substitution, insertion, deletion, frameshift)
c. chromosomal rearrangements (inversion, translocation)
d. advantageous versus deleterious mutation
e. inborn errors of metabolism
f. relationship of mutagens to carcinogens
C. Analytic Methods
1. Hardy–Weinberg principle
2. Testcross (backcross; concepts of parental, F1, and F2 generations)

F. Prokaryotic Cell: Genetics
1. Existence of plasmids, extragenomic DNA, transfer by conjugation
2. Transformation (incorporation into bacterial genome of DNA fragments from external medium)
3. Regulation of gene expression, coupling of transcription and translation

The questions can be calculation based (usually pertaining to the Hardy-Weinberg principle) or concept based. If you have a good grasp of the above concepts you should do fine.