biallelic

adjective

bi·​al·​le·​lic (ˈ)bī-ə-ˈlē-lik, -ˈle- How to pronounce biallelic (audio)
: of, relating to, or affecting both alleles of a gene
The risk of colorectal cancer among carriers of biallelic mutations appears to be close to 100% by 60 years of age …William D. Foulkes, The New England Journal of Medicine
This mode of oncogenesis differs from the inactivation of most tumor-suppressor genes, which are biallelic—that is, one allele is inactivated in the germ line, followed by mutation of the second allele at the somatic-cell level.Roel Nusse, Science

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Cite this Entry

“Biallelic.” Merriam-Webster.com Medical Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/biallelic. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

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