News tagged with phenotypes
Grandparents favor genetically close grandchildren
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research suggests that grandparents naturally and subconsciously favor the grandchildren who are most closely related to them genetically. The phenomenon is called "sexually antagonistic ...
Apr 29, 2010 |
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'Junk DNA' defines differences between humans and chimps
For years, scientists believed the vast phenotypic differences between humans and chimpanzees would be easily explained – the two species must have significantly different genetic makeups. However, when ...
Oct 25, 2011 |
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Cell microenvironments hold key to future stem cell therapies
Adult stem cells and their more committed kin, progenitor cells, are prized by medical researchers for their ability to produce different types of specialized cells. The potential of using these cells to repair ...
Feb 27, 2009 |
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Although our genetics differ significantly, we all look alike
The genetic variation within a species can be significant, but very little of that variation results in clear differences in morphology or other phenotypes. Much of the diversity remains hidden ‘under the surface’ in buffered ...
Jan 26, 2009 |
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Biologists explain how organisms can tolerate mutations, yet adapt to environmental change
Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania studying the processes of evolution appear to have resolved a longstanding conundrum: How can organisms be robust against the effects of mutations yet simultaneously adaptable ...
Jan 20, 2010 |
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Genome mapping technique speeds process of finding specific genes
(PhysOrg.com) -- A Purdue University scientist was part of a global team that has demonstrated a specialized mapping technique that could speed work in genomic fields by quickly finding genetic associations that shape an ...
Mar 25, 2010 |
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Worm scanning speeds research
Scientists from The University of Queensland's School of Biological Sciences have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more easily count the blind worms ...
Mar 25, 2012 |
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Fibroblasts invade at a snail's pace
A transcription factor known to drive the formation of fibroblasts during development also promotes their ability to invade and remodel surrounding tissues, report Rowe et al. in the February 9, 2009 issue ...
Biology /
Feb 02, 2009 |
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Prion proteins play powerful role in survival, evolution of wild yeast strains
Prions, the much-maligned proteins most commonly known for causing "mad cow" disease, are commonly used in yeast to produce beneficial traits in the wild. Moreover, such traits can be passed on to subsequent generations and ...
Feb 15, 2012 |
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Better immune defense against anthrax
Scientists discover a gene in anthrax-causing bacteria may help defend against this form of bio-warfare.
Sep 08, 2009 |
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The amount of adipose tissue should be taken into account in the fight against obesity
Obesity is seen as the great pandemia of the XXI century. Recent data point to more than a billion adults in the world suffering from overweight, of which 300 million are clinically obese. What is more, the rates of child ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Dec 29, 2010 |
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Infectious fungus, thought to be asexual, isn't: More evidence of sex in the Candida genus
The fungi of the Candida genus, known to millions of patients worldwide for their ability to cause serious infections, were once all thought to be asexual. Even after scientists discovered that the mating habits of Candid ...
Dec 05, 2011 |
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Resequencing 50 accessions of rice cast new light on molecular breeding
BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, announced that a study on resequencing 50 accessions of cultivated and wild rice was published online today in Nature Biotechnology. The study provides one of the largest genome ...
Dec 11, 2011 |
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Phenotype
A phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior (such as a bird's nest). Phenotypes result from the expression of an organism's genes as well as the influence of environmental factors and the interactions between the two.
The genotype of an organism is the inherited instructions it carries within its genetic code. Not all organisms with the same genotype look or act the same way because appearance and behavior are modified by environmental and developmental conditions. Similarly, not all organisms that look alike necessarily have the same genotype.
This genotype-phenotype distinction was proposed by Wilhelm Johannsen in 1911 to make clear the difference between an organism's heredity and what that heredity produces. The distinction is similar to that proposed by August Weismann, who distinguished between germ plasm (heredity) and somatic cells (the body). The Genotype-Phenotype concept should not be confused with Francis Crick's central dogma of molecular biology which is a statement about the directionality of molecular sequential information flowing from DNA to protein (but which cannot become transferred from proteins).
For more information about Phenotype, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
