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A single-celled organism. Bacteria are found throughout nature and can be beneficial or pathogenic.
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(BAC) Large segments of DNA, 100,000 to 200,000 bases, from another species cloned into bacteria. Once the foreign DNA has been cloned into the host bacteria, many copies of it can be made.
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Two bases which form a "rung of the DNA ladder." A DNA nucleotide is made of a molecule of sugar, a molecule of phosphoric acid, and a molecule called a base. The bases are the "letters" that spell out the genetic code. In DNA, the code letters are A, T, G, and C, which stand for the chemicals adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine, respectively. In base pairing, adenine always pairs with thymine, and guanine always pairs with cytosine.
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A structural, functional, or metabolic abnormality present at birth that results in physical or mental disability or is fatal. There are more than 4,000 known birth defects, which may be caused by genetic or environmental factors. About 150,000 babies are born each year with birth defects.
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A medical procedure to replenish the soft tissue within bones that produces new blood cells. Bone marrow transplants are necessary when marrow has been destroyed by drug or radiation therapy for cancer, often leukemia. A bone marrow donor is usually a close relative of the patient.
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The first breast cancer genes to be identified. Mutated forms of these genes are believed to be responsible for about half the cases of inherited breast cancer, especially those that occur in younger women. Both are tumor suppressor genes.
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