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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Inheritance and Population Genetics

Allele

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

/əˈliːl/nounCore term

In genetics & biotechnology, allele means: One of the different versions of a gene that can exist at the same position on a chromosome. You inherit one allele of each gene from each parent.

In Turkish: alel, alel gen

How it is used

Used in inheritance, population genetics and clinical reports. Alleles can be dominant or recessive, common or rare, wild-type or mutant. Researchers talk about allele frequency, risk alleles and 'carrying one copy of the allele'.

Example sentences

  1. She carries one copy of the risk allele, but she has no symptoms.

  2. This allele is much more common in Mediterranean populations.

Common collocations

  • risk allele
  • allele frequency
  • dominant allele
  • recessive allele
  • wild-type allele
  • geneA section of DNA that carries the instructions for making a protein or a functional RNA molecule; it is the basic unit of heredity passed from parents to children.
  • genotypeThe genetic makeup of an individual, usually meaning the specific pair of alleles a person or organism has for a particular gene.
  • dominantDescribes an allele that shows its effect even when only one copy is present, so it hides the effect of the other allele.
  • recessiveDescribes an allele whose effect only appears when a person has two copies of it, one from each parent.
  • heterozygousHaving two different alleles of a particular gene, one inherited from each parent.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Inheritance and Population Genetics

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