Definitions beginning with G

Gene - permalink - collapse

All > Medicine > Cancer

The functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.
National Cancer Institute - Cite This Source - This Definition
Pieces of DNA, or heredity units found inside cells passed from parent to offspring. Genes contain the information for making proteins
ATSDR: Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: cell-to-cell signaling, Chromosome, Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, gene-modified, gene transfer, Genetic, genetics, hereditary, inherited, retroviral vector

All > Medicine > Cancer > Lung Cancer

(jeen): The basic unit of heredity. Genes decide eye color and other traits. Genes also play a role in how high a person's risk is for certain diseases. See also inherited.
CDC - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: adjuvant therapy, antiangiogenesis therapy, biological therapy, evidence, first-line therapy, gene therapy, inherited, neoadjuvant therapy, prognosis

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Food Biotechnology

The fundamental physical and functional unit of heredity. A gene is an ordered sequence of nucleotides located in a particular position on a particular chromosome that encodes a specific functional product (such as a protein or RNA molecule).
USDA CSREES - Cite This Source - This Definition
The unit of heredity transmitted from generation to generation during sexual or asexual reproduction. More generally, the term is used in relation to the transmission and inheritance of particular identifiable traits. The simplest gene consists a segment of nucleic acid that encodes an individual protein or RNA.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition
A locus on a chromosome that encodes a specific protein or several related proteins. It is considered the functional unit of heredity. (See Dominant gene, Fusion gene, Gene amplification, Gene expression, Gene flow, Gene pool, Gene splicing, Gene translocation, Recessive gene, Regulatory gene.)
Susan Allender-Hagedorn and Charles Hagedorn - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: chimeric gene, Fusion gene, fusion protein, major histocompatibility complex, reporter gene, tribrid protein

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Human Genome

The fundamental physical and functional unit of heredity. A gene is an ordered sequence of nucleotides located in a particular position on a particular chromosome that encodes a specific functional product (i.e., a protein or RNA molecule). See also: gene expression
Human Genome Project - Cite This Source - This Definition
The functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein. See also genome, nucleus, protein
National Human Genome Research Institute - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: candidate gene, contig, Contig map, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Morbid map, positional cloning, Radiation hybrid

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Stem Cell

A functional unit of heredity that is a segment of DNA located in a specific site on a chromosome. A gene Directs the formation of an enzyme of other protein.
DHHS - Cite This Source - This Definition
A functional unit of heredity that is a segment of DNA located in a specific site on a chromosome. A gene directs the formation of an enzyme or other protein.
The President's Council on Bioethics - Cite This Source - This Definition
A functional unit of heredity that is a segment of DNA found on chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell. Genes direct the formation of an enzyme or other protein.
NIH - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: Genome, Genomic imprinting, Goosecoid, Hox genes, Maternal gene product, Transgene

gene addition - permalink - collapse

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Food Biotechnology

The addition of a functional copy of a gene to the genome of an organism.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: bar gene, candidate gene, dominance, Dominant gene, Gene amplification, Gene flow, Gene insertion, gene interaction, Gene modification, Gene splicing, gene stacking, homeotic genes, orphan gene, processed pseudo-gene, Regulatory gene, single copy

Gene amplification - permalink - collapse

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Food Biotechnology

The selective production of multiple copies of one gene without a proportional increase in others.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition
The presence of multiple genes. Amplification is one mechanism through which proto-oncogenes are activated in malignant cells.
Susan Allender-Hagedorn and Charles Hagedorn - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: bar gene, candidate gene, dominance, Dominant gene, gene addition, Gene flow, Gene insertion, gene interaction, Gene modification, Gene splicing, gene stacking, homeotic genes, orphan gene, processed pseudo-gene, Regulatory gene, single copy

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Human Genome

Repeated copying of a piece of DNA; a characteristic of tumor cells. See also: gene, oncogene
Human Genome Project - Cite This Source - This Definition
An increase in the number of copies of any particular piece of DNA. A tumor cell amplifies, or copies, DNA segments naturally as a result of cell signals and sometimes environmental events. See also cell, gene, oncogene
National Human Genome Research Institute - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: Chloroplast chromosome, duplication, haploinsufficiency, hemizygous, monosomy, Recessive gene, trisomy

gene bank - permalink - collapse

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Food Biotechnology

1. The physical location where collections of genetic material in the form of seeds, tissues or reproductive cells of plants or animals are stored. 2. Field gene bank: A facility established for the ex situ storage and maintenance, using horticultural techniques, of individual plants. Used for species whose seeds are recalcitrant, or for clonally propagated species of agricultural importance, e.g. apple varieties. 3. A collection of cloned DNA fragments from a single genome. Ideally the bank should contain cloned representatives of all the DNA sequences in the genome. 4. See: library.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: good manufacturing practice, Minimal tillage practices, Monoculture, Organic agriculture, Soil conservation practices, Traditional breeding

Gene chip technology - permalink - collapse

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Human Genome

Development of cDNA microarrays from a large number of genes. Used to monitor and measure changes in gene expression for each gene represented on the chip.
Human Genome Project - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: Electroporation, Genetic engineering technology, Recombinant clone, recombinant DNA technology, technology transfer

Gene cloning - permalink - collapse

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Food Biotechnology

The synthesis of multiple copies of a chosen DNA sequence using a bacterial cell or another organism as a host. The gene of interest is inserted into a vector, and the resulting recombinant DNA molecule is amplified in an appropriate host cell. Synonym: DNA cloning.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition
The process of synthesizing multiple copies of a particular DNA sequence using a bacteria cell or another organism as a host. See DNA, Host.
Susan Allender-Hagedorn and Charles Hagedorn - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: DNA cloning, recombinant vaccine, replacement, source DNA, sub-unit vaccine

(JEEN ek-SPREH-shun) The process by which a gene gets turned on in a cell to make RNA and proteins. Gene expression may be measured by looking at the RNA, or the protein made from the RNA, or what the protein does in a cell.
National Cancer Institute - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: adenovirus, DNA gene-expression microarray, gene deletion, genetic profile, genomic profile, syngeneic, Tumor suppressor gene

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Food Biotechnology

The process by which a gene produces mRNA and protein, and hence exerts its effect on the phenotype of an organism.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition
The process of producing a protein from its DNA- and mRNA-coding sequences.
Susan Allender-Hagedorn and Charles Hagedorn - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: biosilk, cis-acting sequence, dosage compensation, epigenetic variation, EST, Express, expressivity, gene imprinting, glucocorticoid, immediate early gene, incomplete penetrance, inhibitor, modifying gene, penetrance, position effect, variable expressivity

All > Science > Biotechnology and Genetics > Human Genome

The process by which a gene's coded information is converted into the structures present and operating in the cell. Expressed genes include those that are transcribed into mRNA and then translated into protein and those that are transcribed into RNA but not translated into protein (e.g., transfer and ribosomal RNAs).
Human Genome Project - Cite This Source - This Definition
The process by which proteins are made from the instructions encoded in DNA. See also gene, protein
National Human Genome Research Institute - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: chimeraplasty, Intron, Promoter, Splice site, Transcription, transcription factor, Translation, western blot