Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician (ALAT) Practice Exam 2026 – Complete All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The basic unit of inheritance in living organisms is a gene. Genes are segments of DNA that are responsible for carrying the instructions needed to create proteins and determine various traits in an organism. Each gene occupies a specific location on a chromosome and can exist in different forms known as alleles. When genes are passed from parents to offspring, they convey the hereditary information that shapes an individual's characteristics.

While DNA is the molecular structure that makes up genes and is crucial for the storage and transmission of genetic information, it is the gene itself that is considered the functional unit of heredity. Chromosomes are structures that contain many genes, and RNA plays a role in translating the genetic information in DNA into proteins but is not the unit of inheritance itself. Thus, identifying the gene as the fundamental unit highlights its role in inheriting traits and guiding the biological processes of living organisms.