Question | Answer |
gene regulation | the various systems that control and determine which genes are switched on and off, and when, how long, and to what extent the genes are expressed. |
color blindness | visual defect resulting in the inability to distinguish colors and is usually an inherited sex |
Cystic fibrosis | an inherited condition that affects the cells that produce mucus, sweat and digestive juices; a defective gene causes the secretions to become thick and sticky; the secretions plug up tubes, ducts and passageways, especially in the lungs and pancreas. |
Down's Syndrome | A human genetic disease resulting from having an extra chromosome 21, characterized by mental retardation and heart and respiratory defects |
hemophilia | genetic disorder that impairs the blood's ability to clot and can cause excessive bleeding |
Huntington's Disease | autosomal dominant, inherited adult inherited adult-onset disease of the central nervous system |
incomplete dominance | neither allele is dominant; a blending of the two create a new phenotype |
karyotype | A method of organizing the chromosomes of a cell in relation to number, size, and type |
nondisjunction | an accident of meiosis or mitosis, in which both members of a pair of homologous chromosomes or both sister chromatids fail to move apart properly |
Pedigree | A family tree describing the occurrence of heritable characters in parents and offspring across as many generations as possible. |
PKU | inherited absence of phenylalanine hydroxylase (an enzyme that converts phenylalanine into tyrosine). Phenylalanine accumulates in blood and seriously impairs early neuronal development. The defect can be controlled by diet. |
polygenic traits | an additive effect of two or more gene loci on a single phenotypic character. |
Sex-linked trait | An inherited trait, such as color discrimination, determined by a gene located on a sex chromosome and that therefore shows a different pattern of inheritance in males and females |
Sickle Cell Anemia | a disease passed down through families in which red blood cells form an abnormal sickle or crescent shape. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body and are normally shaped like a disc. |
biotechnology | The industrial use of living organisms or their components to improve human health and food production. |
Bt corn | a genetically modified organism (GMO) which has been bioengineered to resist the European corn borer, a crop pest which can cause significant damage to crops |
cloning | to make one or more genetic replicas of an individual or cell. |
DNA fingerprint | A method used to identify DNA banding patterns that are specific to an individual or for comparing the nucleotide sequences of fragments of DNA from different sources. |
gel electrophoresis | the separation of nucleic acids or proteins, on the basis of their size and electrical charge, by measuring their rate of movement through an electrical field in a gel. |
gene therapy | The transplantation of normal genes into cells in place of missing or defective ones in order to correct genetic disorders. |
genetically modified organism | an organism whose genetic material has been altered |
genomics | The branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes. |
Human Genome Project | An international project to map the entire genetic material of a human being |
plasmid | A small ring of DNA that carries accessory genes separate from those of a bacterial chromosome |
recombinant DNA | A DNA molecule made in vitro with segments from different sources |
restriction enzyme | An enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of DNA at specific locations , producing small fragments used in gene splicing for DNA technology. |