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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · DNA, Genes and Chromosomes

Gene

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

/dʒiːn/nounCore term

In genetics & biotechnology, gene means: A 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.

In Turkish: gen

How it is used

Used constantly in research and clinical genetics. A gene can be expressed, silenced, mutated, cloned, knocked out or edited. Human genes have official symbols such as BRCA1 or TP53, written in italics. Researchers often talk about the 'gene of interest' and 'candidate genes'.

Example sentences

  1. Mutations in this gene are linked to an inherited form of breast cancer.

  2. We cloned the gene of interest into an expression vector.

Common collocations

  • gene of interest
  • candidate gene
  • gene function
  • express a gene
  • silence a gene
  • DNADeoxyribonucleic acid: the long, double-stranded molecule that stores the genetic instructions of almost all living things, written in four chemical bases: A, T, G and C.
  • genomeThe complete set of DNA in an organism or cell, including all of its genes and the DNA between them.
  • alleleOne 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.
  • gene expressionThe process by which the information in a gene is used to make a product, usually a protein, and the level at which this happens in a cell.
  • locusA specific position on a chromosome where a particular gene or DNA sequence is found. The plural is loci.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: DNA, Genes and Chromosomes

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