Genetics and Molecular Biology Terms

An inherited increase in the risk of developing a disease.

Information about specific genes, including variations and gene expression, in an individual or in a certain type of tissue.

An inherited increase in the risk of developing a disease.

Genetic testing analyzes DNA to diagnose an inherited condition, determine carrier status, or clarify an inherited risk of developing a disease.

Most common illnesses do not follow the tidy patterns Mendel described, arising instead from many small genetic contributions acting alongside environment.

A genome is the full set of DNA instructions an organism carries, including genes and the sequences that regulate them.

A statistical trawl across all the chromosomes at once, finding where common variation tracks with a disease without being told where to look.

The DNA in germ cells (egg and sperm cells that join to form an embryo).

A gene change in a body's reproductive cell (egg or sperm) that becomes incorporated into the DNA of every cell in the body of the offspring.

A glycoprotein is a protein molecule with one or more sugar chains attached, which influence its shape, stability, and function.

Growth hormone is a pituitary hormone that stimulates growth during childhood and continues regulating metabolism and tissue repair in adults.

An enzyme that removes a small molecule called an acetyl group from histones (proteins found in chromosomes).

A protein found in the outer coat of paramyxoviruses.

The protein found on the surface of some cells and to which epidermal growth factor binds, causing the cells to divide.

A protein involved in normal cell growth.

Present from the first cell onward, even when nothing shows for decades, and never the same claim as present at birth.

A gene change in a body's reproductive cell (egg or sperm) that becomes incorporated into the DNA of every cell in the body of the offspring.

Packing is only half the point, since how tightly DNA is wound decides which genes can be reached and read.

An enzyme that removes a small molecule called an acetyl group from histones (proteins found in chromosomes).

A protein that binds to the DNA and certain proteins in chromosomes.