CBSE Class 12-science Answered

Inheritance is the process by which characters are passed on from the parents to the progeny.

Heredity is the transfer of characters from parents to their offspring. This means that it is only through inheritance that the progeny resemble their parents in several characters. Hence, inheritance is said to be the basis of heredity.

These hereditary characters are present on the chromosomes in the form of genes. These gene combinations express the characters which may be more or less similar to either of its parents. Therefore, the gene is said to be the unit of heredity.