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   gene

   /dʒiːn/

   noun

   • 1. (in informal use) a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring: "playing tennis is in my genes"
   • ▪ (in technical use) a distinct sequence of nucleotides forming part of a chromosome, the order of which determines the order of monomers in a polypeptide or nucleic acid molecule which a cell (or virus) may synthesize.

   Word Origin early 20th century: from German Gen, from Pangen, a supposed ultimate unit of heredity (from Greek pan- ‘all’ + genos ‘race, kind, offspring’).

   Scrabble Points: 5

   • G

     2

   • E

     1

   • N

     1

   • E

     1

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