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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Inheritance and Population Genetics

Genotype

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

nounCore term

In genetics & biotechnology, genotype means: The genetic makeup of an individual, usually meaning the specific pair of alleles a person or organism has for a particular gene.

In Turkish: genotip

How it is used

Used as a noun and a verb. Clinicians and researchers write a genotype as AA, Aa or aa, or describe it as homozygous or heterozygous. As a verb, 'to genotype' means to test which alleles an individual carries: 'we genotyped all the mice'. It is often contrasted with phenotype.

Example sentences

  1. We genotyped all the pups by PCR at three weeks of age.

  2. Patients with the same genotype can still show very different symptoms.

Common collocations

  • genotype data
  • determine the genotype
  • genotype frequency
  • genotyping assay
  • phenotypeThe observable characteristics of an organism, such as height, eye color or a disease, which result from its genes together with the environment.
  • 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.
  • homozygousHaving two identical alleles of a particular gene, because the same version was inherited from both parents.
  • 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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