Analysis of DNA samples stored in the DNA bank may be used to help individuals and their physicians trace the pattern of disease in families, or to aid future medical research areas. A collection of cloned DNA fragments from an organism's genome. The shape that two individual strands of DNA assume when bonded together by base pairing. See base pair. The basic functional unit of heredity located on a chromosome.
Genes are blueprints for proteins, which are central to all life-processes.
Because environmental factors play a large part in the expression of certain traits, the organism may or may not actually develop the predicted disease. A reconstruction of the entire set of chromosomes for a given organism, showing the relative position of every gene. The study of an organism's entire complement of genetic material. The genetic characteristics or description of an organism defined by the nucleotide sequence of the genome. A commonly-occurring genetic variation that can be easily tracked in genetic studies.