Ohio Assessment for Educators (OAE) Integrated Science (024) Practice Exam

Which law states that genes segregate independently during meiosis?

1. Law of Independent Assortment

2. Law of Segregation

3. Mendel's Law of Dominance

4. Bioethical Law of Genetics

The correct answer is: Law of Independent Assortment

The Law of Independent Assortment, formulated by Gregor Mendel based on his experiments with pea plants, states that alleles for different genes segregate independently of one another during the formation of gametes in meiosis. This means that the inheritance of one trait will not affect the inheritance of another trait, allowing for genetic variation. When gametes are formed, the combination of traits is a product of random assortment, leading to new combinations of alleles in the offspring. Understanding this law is fundamental in genetics because it helps explain the diversity seen in traits within a population. When considering the genetic makeup of offspring, it allows geneticists to predict the probability of different traits manifesting based on the alleles present in the parent organisms. The other concepts mentioned refer to different aspects of heredity and genetic inheritance, but they do not specifically describe the independent segregation of genes during meiosis as clearly as the Law of Independent Assortment does. This law is a key principle in Mendelian genetics and is essential for understanding how traits are inherited in a way that contributes to genetic diversity.