Glossary
| Activator Proteins | the enzymes that mark the enhancer region or the end of a gene |
| Adenine | a nitrogenous base that is found in DNA and RNA. Its complimentary base is Thymine. |
| Agarose | gel medium used for separating DNA fragments |
| Allele | one of two or more alternative forms of a gene or genetic marker. |
| Amino acids | the subunits of a polypeptide chain or a protein. Many amino acids bonded together form a polypeptide chain which becomes a protein. |
| Amelogenin | locus at which gener may be determined in DNA typing. |
| Amplification | applied to DNA, it is the process of making multiple copies of a DNA sequence using PCR |
| Autoradiogram, Autoradiograph, Autorad | an x-ray film on which radioactive or chemiluminescent probes have left an image determining the position of specific DNA fragments. |
| Autosome | a "body" chromosome; any chromosome other than the X and Y sex chromosomes |
| Band | the visual image of a specific DNA fragment on an autorad |
| Base | a subunit of nucleic acid; the four bases are adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine |
| Basal Factors | the enzymes that mark the promoter region or the beginning of a gene |
| Cells | the basic units of life. |
| Centromere | the center point where a chromosome pair bonds together |
| Chromosome | a long strand of DNA bundled together which are transmitted from one generation to the next; found in the nucleus or nuclear area. |
| Coding | region of the DNA that carries genetic information that has the capability of producing a protein |
| Codon | a group of three bases in an RNA strand; each codon stands for a certain amino acid. |
| Cytoplasm | jelly-like material in the cell that holds all of the organelles of the cell. |
| Cytosine | a nitrogenous base that is found in DNA and RNA. Its complementary base is Guanine. |
| Denaturation | the separation of double-stranded DNA into two complementary single strands by heat or chemical means; an essential step in forensic DNA profiling |
| Deoxyribonucleic acid | the nucleic acid containing deoxyribose as its sugar |
| Deoxyribose | The sugar that deoxyribonucleic acid is made with. |
| Differentiated | specialized, having a function |
| Dihybrid Cross | a cross of an organism dealing with two characteristics. |
| Diploid | the state of having two sets of chromosomes, in pairs; humans have 23 chromosomes in pairs, for a total of 46 |
| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic Acid--the material that codes for amino acids which form proteins, which in turn carry out functions of the cell. |
| DNA Helicase | the enzyme that unwinds the DNA strand |
| DNA Polymerase | the enzyme that bonds nucleotides to the DNA strand during replication. It does its work after DNA helicase begins working by synthesizing DNA from the original. |
| DNA probe | a short segment of DNA labeled with a radioactive or chemical tag that is used to detect the presence of a particular DNA sequence or fragment |
| Electrophoresis | a technique, used in forensic DNA profiling in which the DNA fragments are separated according to size by their rate of movement in an electric field through the gel |
| Embryo | an animal early in its development; different body parts can be seen, but are not all present or fully formed |
| Enhancer Region | the region of the DNA strand that is the end of a gene |
| Enzyme | a protein catalyst of a specific biochemical reaction; in DNA work enzymes are used are restriction nucleases and DNA polymerase |
| Eukaryotic | cell with a nucleus which in turn contains the chromosomes (Root--true cell) |
| Gamete | generic term for an egg or sperm cell |
| Gel | a semi-solid matrix, usually agarose or acrylamide, used in electrophoresis to separate molecules by size. |
| Genes | sections of the DNA strand that code for certain characteristics |
| Genetic Markers | a defined location on a chromosome having known genetic characteristics |
| Genome |
the complete set of DNA contained in an organism's cell |
| Genotype | the gene type of an organism; the alleles of a certain characteristic: TT, Tt, tt. |
| Guanine | a nitrogenous base that is found in DNA and RNA. Its complimentary base is Cytosine. |
| HaeIII | a restriction enzyme used in RFLP analysis; the standard enzyme used in the U.S. and Canada |
| haploid | having one set of chromosome; sperm and egg are haploid |
| Heterozygous | having one dominant gene and one recessive gene. The genotype would be Tt. |
| Homozygous | having either two dominant or two recessive genes for a certain trait; the genotypes would be either TT or tt. |
| Junk DNA | unneeded DNA that does not code for anything |
| Karyotype | picture of all the chromosomes in the cell lined up in their pairs |
| Locus (pleural--loci) | the specific physical location of a gene, or specific DNA sequence on a chromosome |
| Mitosis | cell division; makes two daughter cells from the original mother cell. |
| Mitochondrial DNA | DNA found in the cellular organelles called mitochondria; identical to mother's mitochondrial DNA |
| Monohybrid Cross | a cross of an organism dealing with only one characteristic |
| Mutation | a change of bases in the DNA strand that can cause a disease or abnormality to the body |
| Nucleic Acid | the chemical compound found naturally in cells that is responsible for heredity. DNA and RNA are nucleic acids. |
| Nucleotide | a nucleotide is the basic unit of a polynucleotide chain. It is made up of a phosphate, nitrogenous bases,( uracil, adenine, guanine or cytosine) and a sugar that is either deoxyribose or ribose. |
| Nucleus | area inside of a eukaryotic cell that holds the chromosomes in the cell |
| Okazaki Fragments | the fragments of a DNA strand that are not bonded with each other |
| PCR | polymerase chain reaction; a process mediated by a DNA polymerase, yielding million of copies of a desired DNA sequence |
| Phenotype |
the way an organism's genes express themselves; either short, tall, green, etc (physical type) |
| Plasmid | ring of "extra" DNA found outside the nucleus in many one-celled organisms |
| Polymorphism | the presence of multiple alleles of a gene in a population |
| Polynucleotide Chain | a polynucleotide chain is made up of many nucleotides and forms nucleic acids; DNA strands are long polynucleotide chains. |
| Probe | a short segment of synthetically tagged DNA, used to detect a specific DNA fragment or sequence |
| Prokaryotic | cell without a nucleus, has nuclear area |
| Promoter Region | the region of DNA that is the beginning of a gene |
| Proteins | material that carries out the functions of the cell; also forms the structure of certain cells |
| Purine | adenine and guanine are both purines. It is a larger structure than pyrimidines. |
| Pyrimidine | thymine and cytosine are both pyrimidines. It is smaller than purines. |
| Recessive Gene | a gene that requires a second identical gene in order to be expressed |
| Replication | the process of duplicating or making a copy of DNA during cell division, that results in two DNA strands. |
| RFLP | restriction fragment length polymorphism; variation in the length of DNA fragments produced by a restriction enzyme that cuts the DNA at a polymorphic locus. |
| Ribose | the sugar that ribonucleic acid contains |
| Restriction Enzyme | an enzyme that cuts DNA at specific base pair sequences; this sequence varies from restriction enzyme to restriction enzyme |
| Replicate | to make identical copies |
| Ribosome | a component of the cell that reads mRNA and bonds an amino acid chain together |
| RNA | ribonucleic acid--the chemical that is made with ribose and the bases of uracil, cytosine, adenine, or guanine. It is made as a copy of the DNA during transcription. |
| RNA Polymerase | the enzyme that unzips DNA and make a complimentary RNA strand |
| Selective Breeding | breeding an organism that has a desirable trait with another so that the desirable trait is passed to the next generation. |
| STR | short tandem repeat |
| Tandem Repeats | repeating units of an identical DNA sequence arranged in succession in a particular region of a chromosome |
| Thymine | a nitrogenous base that is found in DNA but not in RNA. Its complimentary base is adenine. Uracil replaces it in RNA. |
| Transcription | the process of the cell copying DNA to RNA and reading the RNA to make a protein. |
| Uracil | a nitrogenous base only found in RNA, not DNA; takes the place of thymine in RNA |
| VNTR | variable number tandem repeats; repeating units of an identical DNA sequence, arranged in succession in a particular region of a chromosome; the number of repeats varies between individuals which makes forensic DNA identification possible |
| Virulent | harmful or deadly |