Investigating Genetic Diversity

Genetic diversity within or between species is determined by comparing the frequency of characteristics, DNA base sequences, mRNA base sequences, and the amino acid sequence encoded by DNA and mRNA.
Students need to interpret data relating to the similarities and discrepancies in DNA base sequences and the amino acid sequences of proteins to suggest relationships between organisms within a species and between species.
With the advent of gene technology, methods of investigating genetic diversity have shifted from inferring DNA differences from observable features to directly examining DNA sequences.
Knowledge of gene technologies will not be tested.
Quantitative investigations of variation within a species involve data collection from random samples, calculation of a mean value of the data and the standard deviation of that mean, and interpretation of the mean values and their standard deviations.
Students are not required to calculate standard deviations in written papers.
It should be remembered that when SD bars overlap, there is no significance.