Genetics
Genetics is a branch of biology concerned with the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.
Gregor Mendel, a scientist and Augustinian friar, discovered genetics in the late 19th-century. Mendel studied "trait inheritance", patterns in the way traits are handed down from parents to offspring. He observed that organisms (pea plants) inherit traits by way of discrete "units of inheritance". This term, still used today, is a somewhat ambiguous definition of what is referred to as a gene.
Trait inheritance and molecular inheritance mechanisms of genes are still primary principles of genetics in the 21st century, but modern genetics has expanded beyond inheritance to studying the function and behavior of genes. Gene structure and function, variation, and distribution are studied within the context of the cell, the organism (e.g. dominance), and within the context of a population. Genetics has given rise to a number of subfields, including epigenetics and population genetics. Organisms studied within the broad field span the domains of life (archaea, bacteria, and eukarya).
Genetic processes work in combination with an organism's environment and experiences to influence development and behavior, often referred to as nature versus nurture. The intracellular or extracellular environment of a cell or organism may switch gene transcription on or off. A classic example is two seeds of genetically identical corn, one placed in a temperate climate and one in an arid climate. While the average height of the two corn stalks may be genetically determined to be equal, the one in the arid climate only grows to half the height of the one in the temperate climate due to lack of water and nutrients in its environment.
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Scholarships for Genetics Majors
Regeneron Science Talent SearchSociety for Science and the Public |
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award Up to $250,000 |
deadline November 08, 2023 |
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Churchill ScholarshipThe Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States |
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award Up to $65,000 |
deadline November 01, 2023 |
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Edith Nourse Rogers STEM ScholarshipU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |
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award Up to $30,000 |
deadline Varies |
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Jewel Scholars Program - Mount Mary CollegeMount Mary College |
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award $26,000 |
deadline Varies |
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Lumpkins Family Merit Scholarship in the College of ScienceUniversity of Notre Dame |
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award $25,000 |
deadline January 01, 2024 |
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Quantitative Biology Research Community (QBReC) FellowshipBrandeis University |
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award Up to $20,500 |
deadline January 01, 2024 |
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Bess Heflin FellowshipUniversity of Texas at Austin, Office of Graduate Studies |
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award $19,000 |
deadline Varies |
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UCF Astronaut ScholarshipUniversity of Central Florida (UCF) |
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award Up to $15,000 |
deadline October 31, 2023 |
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Alice P. Gast STEM ScholarshipLehigh University |
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award $12,500 |
deadline January 15, 2024 |
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FIRST Scholarship - Bay Atlantic UniversityFIRST |
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award $11,000 |
deadline August 15, 2023 |
Genetics Related Majors
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Biochemistry
- Biomedical Sciences
- Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
- Zoology/Animal Biology
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Neuroscience
- Physiology
- Wildlife Biology
- Pharmacology
- Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology
- Biotechnology
- Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Anatomy
- Neurobiology and Neurosciences
- Cell Biology and Anatomy
- Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
- Human/Medical Genetics
- Microbiology