An organism that causes disease, such as a virus or bacteria. A technique used to determine whether an embryo carries a genetic disease. A large molecule made up of a string of amino acids that is then folded into a particular shape. The order of the amino acids in a protein is determined by the sequence of nucleotides in the gene that codes for it. Each protein has a specific function.
Some proteins are structural.
Others, such as enzymes, catalyze biochemical reactions, while hormones carry messages from one part of the body to another. A precise and detailed plan for the study of a biomedical problem or for the treatment of a medical condition. A gene in which both copies must be present for the trait to be present in a person or animal. The parents may not even have red hair. A disease in which a child must inherit two copies of a defective gene one from each parent in order to get the affliction.