Team Gene: Accuracy Punnett Hours
Gregor Mendel certainly deserved his title as the “father of modern genetics” for his botany studies of inherited traits. But his discoveries are really brought into focus, especially for those who enjoy a visual approach to learning, by the advent of the Punnett square in 1905. The Punnett square is named for its creator, British geneticist Reginald C. Punnett, and is used to determine the probability of an offspring inheriting a specific genotype.
A classic Punnett square is set as a table, with the maternal alleles for a certain trait on one axis, and the paternal alleles along the other axis. A gene with a single pair of alleles can be mapped easily using this method.
Pairs of alleles can be considered to be either homozygous, meaning both alleles are the same, or heterozygous, meaning the parent carries one of each. In cases when one allele dominates, carriers of heterozygous alleles will express the dominant trait. In some cases, there may be incomplete dominance, and in this case carriers of heterozygous alleles with express a blend of the encoded traits.
The Punnett square provides probability data on both the likelihood that an offspring will express a certain trait, as well as the probability that it will be a carrier of a given trait, regardless of expression. This information can help determine what traits future generations may express as well.
Thanks to the power of prediction, Punnett squares can accurately predict the likelihood of inheriting a trait, and thanks to the power of amazing tracing, you can accurately predict the direction of your next neuron branch! Go forth and trace during our Accuracy Happy Hours!
Session 1 – 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM on 5/18
Session 2 – 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on 5/19
Session 3 – 10:00 PM to midnight on 5/19
HQ will bestow typical Happy Hour bonuses for your work during each of those time frames, but there’s more than that to earn! Check your in-game notifications to see the full accuracy bonus breakdown.
Swag: Most accurate player completing at least 30 cubes wins the choice of a notebook or a mug, plus a sticker/magnet set! Second and third place will each also win a sticker/magnet set.
Mentors: You are still allowed to mentor people during these time windows. Please just use your best judgment as to whether someone is asking you for basic newbie help vs. trying to have you boost their accuracy on cube after cube.
Scythes: Please avoid scything during these time windows. Even though accuracy for this will be retroactively calculated, we would prefer to go with accuracy based on players’ raw tracing. By the time this challenge is scored, don’t worry, admins will have corrected consensus as needed.