How Are Alleles Different?

When genes mutate, they can take on multiple forms, with each form differing slightly in the sequence of their base DNA. These gene variants still code for the same trait (i.e. hair color), but they differ in how the trait is expressed (i.e. brown vs blonde hair). Different versions of the same gene are called alleles.

Why are some alleles different?

If you remember biology class, you probably know what Mendel had landed on: Traits are controlled by genes, and individual genes come in different flavors known as alleles. Since you get one copy of each gene from either parent, you can end up with two different alleles of the same gene.

What is the difference between the alleles of a gene quizlet?

What is the difference between a gene and an allele? A gene is a specific section of a chromosome where the base pairs that code for the characteristic are stored whereas an allele is the actual sequence of the base pairs in the section.