Medical terms - Letter G
552 terms start with the letter G.
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GDF-8
The gene encoding growth and differentiation factor, also known as myostatin. See: Myostatin
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Gefitinib
Gefitinib: A drug that attaches to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on the surfaces of cells. The drug was designed to treat non-small-cell lung cancer. Marketed under the brand name Iressa. For more…
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Geiger counter
The most commonly used portable radiation detection and measuring instrument, consisting of a gas-filled tube containing electrodes, between which an electrical voltage but no current flows. When ionizing radiation…
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Gel electrophoresis
The process in which molecules (such as proteins, DNA, or RNA fragments) can be separated according to size and electrical charge by applying an electric current to them while they are in a gel. The current forces the…
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Gelineau syndrome
A neurological disorder marked by a sudden recurrent uncontrollable compulsion to sleep. Named for a French neurologist, JBE Gelineau (1859-1906). Also known as narcolepsy. The disorder is often associated with…
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Gene
The basic biological unit of heredity. A segment of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) needed to contribute to a function. An official definition: According to the official Guidelines for Human Gene Nomenclature, a gene is…
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Gene amplification
Making multiple copies of a gene. Repeated copying of a gene. Gene amplification plays a role in cancer cells. A tumor cell amplifies, or copies, DNA segments as a result of cell signals and sometimes environmental…
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Gene array analysis
A way of analyzing the differential expression of thousands of species of mRNA (messenger RNA) at the same time in two different samples (as, for example, in normal vs. tumor tissue, or at different developmental…
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Gene deletion
The total loss (or absence) of a gene. Gene deletion plays a role in birth defects and in the development of cancer.
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Gene duplication
An extra copy of a gene. Gene duplication is a key mechanism in evolution. Once a gene is duplicated, the identical genes can undergo changes and diverge to create two different genes. A duplication is the opposite of a…
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Gene expression
The translation of information encoded in a gene into protein or RNA. Expressed genes include genes that are transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA) and then translated into protein, as well as genes that are transcribed…
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Gene family
A group of genes related in structure and often in function. The genes belonging to a gene family are descended from an ancestral gene. For example, the hemoglobin genes of critical importance to red blood cells belong…
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Gene mapping
The process of determining the relative positions of genes on a chromosome (or another piece of DNA) and the distances between the genes in linkage units or in physical units
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Gene markers
Detectable genetic traits or distinctive segments of DNA that serve as landmarks for a target gene. Markers are on the same chromosome as the target gene. They must be near enough to the target gene to be genetically…
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Gene pool
The sum total of genes, with all their variations, possessed by a particular species at a particular time
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Gene product
The RNA or protein that results from the expression of a gene. The amount of gene product is a measure of the degree of gene activity.
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Gene silencing
A mechanism by which cells shut down large sections of chromosomal DNA. Gene silencing is done by incorporating the DNA to be silenced into a form of DNA called heterochromatin that is already silent. The process of…
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Gene testing
Testing a sample of blood (or another fluid or tissue) for evidence of a gene. The evidence can be biochemical, chromosomal, or genetic. The aim is to learn whether a gene for a disease is present or absent.
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Gene transfer
The insertion of unrelated genetic information in the form of DNA into cells. There are different reasons to do gene transfer. Perhaps foremost among these reasons is the treatment of diseases using gene transfer to…
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Gene, candidate
Any gene thought likely to cause a disease. The gene may be a candidate because it is located in a particular chromosome region suspected of being involved in the disease or its protein product may suggest that it could…
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Gene, evolutionarily conserved
A gene that has remained essentially unchanged throughout evolution. Conservation of a gene indicates that it is unique and essential. There is not an extra copy of that gene with which evolution can tinker. And changes…
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Gene, housekeeping
See: Housekeeping gene
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Gene, marker
A detectable genetic trait or segment of DNA that can be identified and tracked. A marker gene can serve as a flag for another gene, sometimes called the target gene. A marker gene must be on the same chromosome as the…
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Gene, Med1 DNA repair
A gene that codes for one of the key enzymes involved in repairing DNA. The DNA in genes is constantly mutating and being repaired. This repair process is controlled by special genes. A mutation in a DNA repair gene…
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Gene, regulatory
A gene that regulates the expression of other genes. A regulatory gene is a nosy gene whose prime preoccupation is to horn in on other genes and control the rate at which they make products
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Gene, suicide
A gene whose expression in a cell is lethal for that cell. Suicide genes form the basis of a strategy for making cancer cells more vulnerable, more sensitive to chemotherapy. The approach has been to attach parts of…
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Gene, transporter
A gene that allows drugs to enter cells or, in some cases, acts to keep them out. Transporter genes may account for discrepancies in the way drugs such as antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and chemotherapy agents work…
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Gene, Y-linked
A gene on the Y chromosome. (Y-linkage is analogous to X-linkage (the presence of a gene on the X chromosome) in that it says a gene is on one of the sex chromosomes.) It has often been said that little is known about…
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Gene, zygotic lethal
A gene that is lethal (fatal) for the zygote, the cell formed by the union of a sperm (male sex cell) and an ovum (female sex cell). The zygote would normally develop into an embryo, as instructed by the genetic…
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Gene-expression profiling
A genomic technique that based on the fact that only a fraction of the genes encoded in the genome of a cell are expressed by being transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA). The complement of mRNAs in a cell largely…
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General Clinical Research Center
(Abbreviated GCRC). See: Clinical Research Center
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General paresis
Progressive dementia and generalized paralysis due to chronic inflammation of the covering and substance of the brain (meningoencephalitis). General paresis is a part of late (tertiary) syphilis, occurring a decade or…
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Generalized anxiety disorder
Abbreviated GAD. A condition characterized by 6 months or more of chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that is unfounded or much more severe than the normal anxiety most people experience. People with GAD usually…
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Generalized tonic-clonic seizure
See: Grand mal
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Generic
1. The chemical name of a drug. 2. A term referring to the chemical makeup of a drug rather than to the advertised brand name under which the drug may be sold. 3.A term referring to any drug marketed under its chemical…
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Generic drug
>The chemical name of a drug. >A term referring to the chemical makeup of a drug rather than to the advertised brand name under which the drug is sold. >A term referring to any drug marketed under its chemical name…
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Generic name, drug
>The chemical name of a drug. >A term referring to the chemical makeup of a drug rather than to the advertised brand name under which the drug is sold. >A term referring to any drug marketed under its chemical name…
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Genes
The basic biological units of heredity. Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) needed to contribute to a function. An official definition: According to the official Guidelines for Human Gene Nomenclature, a gene is…
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Genes, breast cancer susceptibility
Breast cancer susceptibility: Inherited factors that predispose to breast cancer. Put otherwise, these genes make one more susceptible to the disease and so increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Two of these…
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Genesis
A suffix referring to the beginning, development, or production of something. For example, gametogenesis is the development and production of the male and female germ cells (the gametes) required to form a new…
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Genetic
Having to do with genes and genetic information.
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Genetic anticipation
A remarkable phenomenon in which a genetic disease appears earlier appearance and with increased from with each succeeding generation. Anticipation was once thought not to exist in genetics. It was chalked off as a…
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Genetic code
The instructions in a gene that tell the cell how to make a specific protein. A, T, G, and C are the 'letters' of the DNA code. They stand for the chemicals adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine, respectively, that…
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Genetic counseling
An educational counseling process for individuals and families who have a genetic disease or who are at risk for such a disease. Genetic counseling is designed to provide patients and their families with information…
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Genetic counselor
A health professional with a specialized graduate degree and experience in the areas of medical genetics and counseling. Genetic counselors enter the field from a variety of disciplines, including biology, genetics…
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Genetic discrimination
The potential use of genetic information to discriminate against people in the workplace, in health insurance, or in any other arena
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Genetic disease
Genetic disease: A disease caused by an abnormality in an individual's genome. There are a number of different types of genetic inheritance: > >Single gene inheritance -- Also called Mendelian or monogenic inheritance…
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Genetic immunodeficiency disease
See: Primary immunodeficiency disease
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Genetic imprinting
See Genomic imprinting
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Genetic infantile agranulocytosis
Children born with this condition lack neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that is important in fighting infection). These children suffer frequent infections from bacteria which in the past led to death in…