Basis of differentiation | Genotype | Phenotype |
Definition | Is a set of genes in DNA that’s responsible for an organism’s unique characteristics or traits | Is the observable physical traits of an organism, such as height, hair texture, or eye color |
What it consists of | Consists of an organism’s hereditary characteristics which may or may not be expressed in the next generation | Consists of different characteristics such as structure and physical features, biological and physiological properties |
What it is affected by | Is affected by the individual’s genetic composition, which is affected by sexual reproduction | Is affected by the individual’s genotype and environmental conditions |
Relation | The same genotype always produces the same phenotype, unless heritable mutations occur | The same phenotype does not necessarily belong to the same genotype |
Impact of environmental factors | Is not affected by environmental factors | Is affected by environmental factors |
Inherited | Is partly inherited from a parent to the offspring as one of the two alleles during sexual reproduction | Is not inherited from the parent |
Changes | Remains the same and does not change throughout the individual’s lifetime | May change during an individual’s lifetime such as changes in hair texture |
Determined by | Can be determined by various scientific techniques such as DNA sequencing and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) | Can be easily determined just by observing the organism |
Examples |
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