Genetics and Molecular Medicine Terms

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).

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).

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

A rare, inherited predisposition to multiple cancers, caused by an alteration in the p53 tumor suppressor gene.

A substance that contains the metal platinum and may kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA and stopping them from dividing.

An anticancer drug that kills cancer cells by affecting DNA synthesis.

Lynch syndrome is an inherited condition caused by a DNA repair gene mutation that raises lifetime risk of colorectal and other cancers.

The division that halves the chromosome count and shuffles the deck, so no two eggs or sperm carry the same combination.

An inherited condition that may result in the development of cancers of the endocrine system.

A rare, inherited disorder that affects the endocrine glands and can cause tumors in the parathyroid and pituitary glands and the pancreas.

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

A concentration of 1/1,000,000 (one millionth) molecular weight per liter (mol/L).

MicroRNA is the full name behind the abbreviation miRNA, a short RNA molecule that silences messenger RNAs rather than coding for a protein itself.

A short sequence of DNA, usually 1 to 4 basepairs (a unit of DNA), that is repeated together in a row along the DNA molecule.

A change that occurs in the DNA of certain cells (such as tumor cells) in which the number of repeats of microsatellites (short, repeated sequences of DNA) is different than the number of repeats…

miRNA molecules are short strands of RNA that bind messenger RNA to block protein production, providing cells a way to fine-tune gene activity.

The process of identifying a disease by studying molecules, such as proteins, DNA, and RNA, in a tissue or fluid.

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.