Kaplan Nursing Entrance Practice Exam

Which term describes the genetic material responsible for physical traits in living organisms?

1. Chromosomes

2. Genes

3. Nucleotides

4. DNA

The correct answer is: Genes

The term that describes the genetic material responsible for physical traits in living organisms is 'genes.' Genes are segments of DNA that carry the instructions for making proteins, which in turn play critical roles in determining an organism's physical characteristics, such as eye color, height, and many other traits. Each gene can influence a specific aspect of an organism's phenotype—the observable physical traits resulting from the interaction of genes with the environment. While chromosomes are structures within cells that contain DNA and many genes, they are not directly the genetic material responsible for traits; rather, they are the organized packages that hold the genes. Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA and RNA, which provide the chemical structure but do not individually define physical traits. DNA itself encodes the genetic information for traits but, in this context, the specific function of determining traits is attributed to genes.