Genetics and Molecular Medicine Terms

A common change in the genetic code in DNA.

One of a group of cancers that develop from the same type of early cells, and share certain biochemical and genetic features.

A gene involved in normal cell growth.

The mushroom compound is a prodrug: what reaches the brain is psilocin, released once the body strips a phosphate group away.

A cancer vaccine containing plasmid DNA encoding human prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) (pTVG-HP) with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities.

Half the alphabet of the genetic code, and the reason uric acid builds up and triggers a gout attack.

A cancer vaccine containing xenogenic DNA from rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) that encodes prostate specific antigen (PSA) with potential immunostimulating and antineoplastic activities.

Pyrimidines are single-ring nitrogen-containing bases, including cytosine, thymine, and uracil, that pair with purines to form the rungs of DNA and RNA.

An anticancer drug that stops tumor cells from growing by blocking the ability of cells to make DNA.

A family of genes that may cause cancer when they are mutated (changed).

A short piece of the ras protein, which is made by the ras gene.

Recombinant describes DNA, proteins, or organisms engineered in a laboratory by joining genetic material from more than one source.

RNA from a virus that is used to insert genetic material into cells.

Genetic information running backward along its usual route, from RNA into DNA, and the step HIV cannot do without.

An antiviral gene that is being studied in the treatment of cancer in patients who have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

A family of anticancer drugs that interfere with the growth of tumor cells by blocking the formation of deoxyribonucleotides (building blocks of DNA).

Best known as the messenger between gene and protein, RNA also stores the genes of many viruses and regulates the cell directly.

A rare inherited disorder that affects the skin and many other parts of the body, including the bones, eyes, nose, hair, nails, teeth, testes, and ovaries.

A measure of the percentage of cells in a tumor that are in the phase of the cell cycle during which DNA is synthesized.

SCID is a group of rare inherited disorders in which T lymphocyte function is severely impaired, leaving the immune system unable to fight infection.