Genetics and Molecular Biology Terms

One copy can be read many times over before it is destroyed, which is how a single gene yields thousands of protein molecules.

Adding a single small carbon tag to a molecule, a change tiny in size but large in what it switches off.

A biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or of a condition or disease.

The sum of the atomic masses of all atoms in a molecule, based on a scale in which the atomic masses of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are 1, 12, 14, and 16, respectively.

A branch of medicine that develops ways to diagnose and treat disease by understanding the way genes, proteins, and other cellular molecules work.

A series of actions among molecules in a cell that leads to a certain end point or cell function.

Measuring how much of it a cell holds is the standard way to judge whether a particular gene is switched on or off.

The cell's growth switch, wired to read food, energy and hormone signals before deciding whether building is affordable.

A protein/sugar compound made by some cancer cells.

Any change in the DNA of a cell.

A person who has a mutated (changed) copy of a gene.

A genetic condition in which tumors form on the nerves of the inner ear and cause loss of hearing and balance.

A protein found on the surface of some cancers.

Order is everything: the same few units in a different sequence spell a different protein, or a disease causing mutation.

An oncogene is a mutated gene, derived from a normal growth regulating gene, that drives uncontrolled cell division seen in cancer.

A protein being studied in the treatment of cancer.

P-glycoprotein is a transport protein present in many normal tissues that pumps drugs and toxins out of cells, sometimes contributing to drug resistance in cancer.

A tumor suppressor gene that normally inhibits the growth of tumors.

An enzyme involved in many functions of the cell, including the repair of DNA damage.

A sterile non-pyrogenic suspension of microspheres of human serum albumin with the stable, high-molecular-weight fluorocarbon gas perflutren, used as a contrast enhancement agent for ultrasound…