The transmission of genetic information from generation to generation is called?

• A. Inheritance
• B. Mutation
• C. Variation
• D. Adaptation

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is inheritance—the passing of genetic information from parents to offspring. When organisms reproduce, their genes carried on chromosomes are transmitted to the next generation, so offspring inherit many of the traits their parents have. This transmission happens because each parent contributes a set of chromosomes, containing the organism’s DNA, to the offspring. That’s why children often resemble their parents and why traits run in families. Differences among individuals come from how the different versions of genes (alleles) combine, plus occasional mutations that introduce new variation. Other terms like mutation, variation, and adaptation involve changes and differences, but the direct process of how information is conveyed from one generation to the next is inheritance.