GLOSSARY
Glossary |
Allele- One version of a gene at a particular location in a person’s DNA (Ford, 1997).
Apoptosis (programmed cell death) – is an intrinsic cell process where the cell is induced to commit suicide (Kimbrell’s Biology Pages, 2004).
Carrier- A person who has inherited one mutant allele and one normal allele, which masks the presence of the mutant allele. They generally have no outward manifestations of the mutant allele. They may pass on either allele to offspring (Ford, 1997).
Cell Senescence – is irreversible growth arrest of the cell triggered by damage to the cell and DNA.
Chromosome – the genetic material of the cell, complexed with protein and organized into a number of linear structures in the nucleus (Russell, 2002).
Cytoplasm – is the fluid-filled area that surrounds the nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
Denaturant- Any substance that causes the separation of one strand of DNA from its complimentary strand (Ford, 1997).
Diploid- A biological characteristic that indicates an organism has two sets of chromosomes, one chromosome paired with the other (Ford, 1997).
DNA – a double helix of two linked complimentary strands comprised of linked building blocks, called nucleotides, attached to a backbone made of sugar molecules (Ford, 1997).
DNA Replication – a cellular process by which two strands of a DNA double helix are separated and a new complementary strand of DNA is synthesized on each of the two parental template strands (Russell, 2002).
Gene- A section of DNA nucleotides that codes for a strand of RNA, when it is read by cellular mechanisms, which eventually influences and determines a biological characteristic or process of an organism when the RNA is converted into protein (Ford, 1997).
Genome- All of the genetic material in all of an organisms chromosomes (Ford, 1997).
Haploid- A biological characteristic that indicates an organism has one set of chromosomes (Ford, 1997).
Haplotype- A set of signature genetic changes (polymorphisms) that are normally grouped closely together on the DNA strand. This set of changes is usually inherited as a group and is referred to as a haplotype (Ford, 1997).
Homozygous- When a person has inherited two of the same version of an allele for a particular gene (Ford, 1997).
Hybridization- The linking or binding of two complimentary strands of genetic material (Ford, 1997).
Life Expectancy – is the average total number of years that a human expects to live (Hayflick, 2000).
Life Span – is the maximum number of years that a human can live (Hayflick, 2000).
Mutation – a detectable and heritable change in DNA (Russell, 2002).
Nucleus – a structure within the cell that is bounded by a nuclear membrane. It contains most of the genetic material of the cell (Russell, 2002).
Nucleotide- The basic building block of DNA and subsequently genes. A nucleotide has the ability to bind to another nucleotide in a neighboring DNA strand that has a structure that is complimentary to it (Ford, 1997).
Oligonucleotide- A segment of DNA, a string of nucleotides (Ford, 1997).
Oocyte/Ova- Terms that refer to the female egg cell.
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)- A technological method of amplifying a strand of DNA by many thousands through cycles of separation of DNA strands by raising the temperature, attachment of a pre-prepared added primer through the cooling of the temperature, and replication of strands using Taq polymerase. The cycle is repeated until a desired quantity of DNA is produced (Ford, 1997).
Polymerase- An enzyme that acts as a component chaperone in the construction or amplification of DNA.
Polymorphism- A frequently observed and statistically relevant occurrence of an alternate form of a nucleotide in a strand of DNA. A benign nucleotide change in the DNA strand (Ford, 1997).
Replication fork – a Y-shaped structure formed when a double-stranded DNA molecule unwinds to expose the two single-stranded template strands for DNA replication (Russell, 2002).
Ribosome – a complex cellular particle composed of ribosomal protein and ribosomal RNA molecules that is the site of translation (Russell, 2002).
RNA – a single stranded and similarly structured compliment to DNA produced when the DNA strand and its genes are “read” during transcription. The RNA strand will eventually be converted in translation to proteins, which influence and determine the characteristics and biological processes of an organism (Ford, 1997).
Note that there are three major types of RNA: ribosomal RNA (rRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA).
Telomerase – an enzyme that maintains chromosome lengths by adding telomere repeats to the chromosomal ends.
Telomere – is the end of eukaryotic chromosomes that consist of simple, short repeated sequences that are species specific (Russell, 2002).
Transcription – the transfer of information from a double-stranded DNA molecule to a single-stranded RNA molecule (Russell, 2002).
Translation – the conversion in the cell of the mRNA base sequence information into an amino acid sequence of a protein (Russell, 2002).
Questions or Comments: Email Dr. Verna Case
Davidson College Biology Department
Davidson College
This web page was produced as an assignment for an undergraduate course at Davidson College.
Glossary |