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Gene Expression

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Synonyms

Central dogma of life; DNA; Gene expression; Posttranscriptional modification; Ribosome; RNA; Transcription; Translation;

Definitions

Gene expression is the process of decoding the information stored in the DNA (2-deoxyribonucleic acid) to its functional forms.

Heredity and Gene Expression

In 1860s, Gregor Mendel showed that genetic information transfers from parents to offspring in discrete units, later named genes that confer heritable traits such as morphological features including flower color or plant height. The exact chemical nature of the genetic material was unknown the mid 1940s. Two possible options, DNA and protein were always found together in the chromosomes of the nucleus – the center of hereditary information of the cell. The fact that genes affect phenotypic traits was known since Mendel’s work. Compelling evidence also suggested that genes affect enzyme functions and control metabolic activities of an organism. In the early 1900s, Archibald Garrod examined...

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Correspondence to Vijaykumar Yogesh Muley .

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Muley, V.Y., Pathania, A. (2017). Gene Expression. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_49-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_49-1

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Gene Expression
    Published:
    20 October 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_49-2

  2. Original

    Gene Expression
    Published:
    05 September 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_49-1