Heterozygous

How it is used

Used in clinical reports, genotyping and animal breeding. A report may say 'a heterozygous pathogenic variant was detected'. The nouns are 'heterozygote' (the individual) and 'heterozygosity'. In the lab, people often say 'het' for short: 'het mice'.

Example sentences

1. The patient is heterozygous for the variant, which fits with dominant inheritance.

2. We crossed two heterozygous mice to get knockout pups.

Common collocations

• heterozygous for
• heterozygous variant
• heterozygous carrier
• heterozygous mice

Related terms

• homozygousHaving two identical alleles of a particular gene, because the same version was inherited from both parents.
• 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.
• genotypeThe genetic makeup of an individual, usually meaning the specific pair of alleles a person or organism has for a particular gene.
• carrierA person who has one copy of a recessive disease-causing variant, usually without symptoms, and who can pass the variant on to their children.
• dominantDescribes an allele that shows its effect even when only one copy is present, so it hides the effect of the other allele.

More terms: Inheritance and Population Genetics

• phenotype
• inheritance
• trait
• recessive
• pedigree
• GWAS