Genetics and Molecular Medicine Terms

A type of virus that causes herpes infections and has DNA as its genetic material.

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 rare inherited disorder that increases the risk of developing benign (not cancer) tumors of the skin and the uterus (leiomyomas) and malignant (cancer) tumors of the uterus (leiomyosarcoma) and…

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

The inherited cancer syndrome named for the polyps it does not produce, now generally called Lynch syndrome for exactly that reason.

Recurrence is what makes them useful, since a change seen repeatedly at one position is easier to test for and interpret.

A laboratory test in which cells are scraped from the cervix to look for DNA of human papillomaviruses (HPV).

A gene that may cause cancer when it is mutated (changed).

HSV causes lifelong infection with two distinct types, one typically producing oral cold sores and the other typically producing genital sores.

A type of virus that causes herpes infections and has DNA as its genetic material.

A laboratory test in which cells are scraped from the cervix to look for DNA of human papillomaviruses (HPV).

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

Radiation shaped to the tumor rather than aimed at a box around it, using beams whose strength varies across their own width.

An inherited disorder in which there is a lower-than-normal number of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that is important in fighting infections).

Informed consent is the process of giving a person the facts needed to decide, voluntarily, whether to undergo a treatment, procedure, or research study.

Every inherited change is genetic, but plenty of genetic changes are not inherited, and the difference decides who else is at risk.

In biochemistry, a type of molecule that binds to DNA and inserts itself into the DNA structure.

Among the commonest chromosome differences in people, and among the most often missed, because the outward signs are easy to overlook.

An inherited disorder in which there is a lower-than-normal number of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that is important in fighting infections).