英汉遗传学词汇

Genetics Glossary

Adenine(腺嘌呤)

A nitrogenous purine base found in DNA and RNA. It is paired with thymine in DNA.

Allele(s)(等位基因)

Alternative forms of a gene found at the same location on a chromosome pair. A single allele for each locus is inherited separately from each parent. Examples: At a locus for eye color different alleles may result in blue or brown eyes. On chromosome 19, at the apolipoprotein E locus (APOE), an individual may have different alleles (E2, E3, or E4) resulting in different risks to develop late-onset Alzheimer disease.

Amino acid (氨基酸)

One of the twenty chemical building blocks that can be linked together to form a polypeptide chain or a protein. Examples: phenylalanine, threonine, and alanine.

Anticodon(反密码子)

A triplet of bases in a tRNA molecule that can base pair with a complementary triplet of bases in an mRNA molecule during the process of protein synthesis. Each tRNA is capable of carrying the amino acid that corresponds to the codon to which that tRNA can base pair. Thus, tRNA's are responsible for decoding the amino acid sequence specified by an mRNA based upon the specificity of the codon-anticodon interaction.

Autosome(常染色体)

Any one of the non-sex determining chromosomes. The diploid human genome consists of 46 chromosomes, 22 pairs of autosomes, and 1 pair of sex chromosomes (the X and Y chromosomes).

Base pair(碱基对)

A pair of nitrogenous bases, one on each strand of a DNA or RNA double helix, which hold the two strands together by virtue of weak, hydrogen bonds between the bases. There are specific rules that determine which bases can pair: adenine pairs with thymine (in DNA) or uracil (in RNA), and guanine pairs with cytosine.

Base sequence(碱基顺序)

The order of nucleotide bases in a DNA molecule.

Bioinformatics(生物信息学)

The science that uses advanced computing techniques for management and analysis of biological data. Bioinformatics is particularly important as an adjunct to

genomic research, which generates a large amount of complex data, involving DNA sequences and hundreds of thousands of genes.

Carrier(携带者)

An individual who has one copy (allele) of a disease-causing gene. Carriers do not usually express the condition caused by the recessive allele, but can pass it on to their offspring. Examples: A carrier for cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia.

cDNA (complementary DNA)(互补DNA)

A DNA strand copied in vitro from mRNA using reverse transcriptase. It is complementary to the RNA from which it was reverse transcribed.

Cell (细胞)

The basic unit of any living organism. This small compartment contains chemicals, cellular organelles and a complete copy of the organism's genome.

Centimorgan (cM) (厘摩)

A unit of measure of genetic distance. One centimorgan is equal to a 1% chance that there will be a recombination between two loci. In human beings, 1 centimorgan approximates, on average, 1 million base pairs.

Centromere (着丝粒)

The point at which the two chromatids of a chromosome are joined, and the region of the chromosome which becomes attached to the spindle during cell division.

Chromosome (染色体)

The self-replicating structures in the nucleus of human cells that spacially and functionally organize the DNA in an individual's genome. The normal chromosome number in humans is 46. Examples: 46, XX, normal female; 46, XY, normal male.

Clone (克隆)

A group of genetically identical organisms. Identical twins are an example of naturally occuring clones. A bacterial colony, grown on a petri dish starting from a single bacterium, is a clone of identical cells. If the original bacterial cell contained a recombinant DNA molecule, e.g. a human DNA fragment, all the bacteria in the colony will have identical copies of that human DNA fragment. That is called a cloned DNA fragment.

Coding region (编码区)

The part of a gene which directly specifies the amino acid sequence of its protein product.

Codominant alleles (共显性基因)

Alleles whose phenotypes are both expressed in the heterozygote. Example: The AB