pseudogene

A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered slightly so it is not expressed. Such genes were probably once functional but over time acquired one or more mutations that rendered them incapable of producing a protein product. See also gene, protein

A sequence of DNA similar to a gene but nonfunctional; probably the remnant of a once-functional gene that accumulated mutations.

An incomplete or mutated copy of a gene which is not transcribed because it lacks a continuous open reading frame. Those that lack introns are called processed pseudogenes and are most likely cDNA copies synthesized from mRNA by reverse transcriptase