Gene Summary

Genes A common feature of organisms is that offspring tend to look like their parents. For example, tall, brown-eyed parents tend to have tall, brown-eyed children. The mechanism by which parents pass... Read more

Gene Discovery Gene discovery is the process of identifying genes that contribute to the development of a trait or phenotype. Researchers often try to discover the genes that are involved in specific ... Read more

Gene A gene is a unit of heredity that confers some trait or function on the organism. Most genes are thought to be essential to development and normal functioning. Genes are often a primary determina... Read more

Gene Theory Gene theory is the idea that genes are the unit of inheritance. This theory has been modified many times over the years, as new evidence has become available. In the nineteenth century, Gr... Read more

Gene Genes are the physical units of heredity and are located along each chromosome in the cells of the human body. For each physical trait--eye color, height, hair color--a person inherits two genes ... Read more

Cutting Sites Restriction enzymes selectively cut DNA. The sites at which restriction enzymes act are called cutting sites or restriction sites. The first restriction enzyme, isolated from the bacteri... Read more

Gene A gene is the fundamental physical and functional unit of heredity. Whether in a microorganism or in a human cell, a gene is an individual element of an organism's genome and determines a trait o... Read more

Aliele One of a pair of genes. Genes are arranged in pairs, and each pair influences a specific trait. Alieles are the pairs of genes that control or determine specific traits, such as hair color. See... Read more

In a eukaryotic cell's genome, there are billions of nucleotides arranged in a linear sequence; however, these cells only use a small portion of this genetic material. Some of the DNA that is not use... Read more