what is a genome?

Answer 1

the total genetic constitution of an organism

Answer 2

Life is specified by genomes. Every organism, including humans, has a genome that contains all of the biological information needed to build and maintain a living example of that organism. The biological information contained in a genome is encoded in its deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and is divided into discrete units called genes. Genes code for proteins that attach to the genome at the appropriate positions and switch on a series of reactions called gene expression.

A genome is all the genetic material contained in an organism, including its chromosomes, genes and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

Genes carry information for making all the proteins needed by an organism to function. These proteins determine, among other things, an organism's appearance, health, and sometimes behaviour.

DNA is made up of four chemical bases (represented by A, T, C, and G) that may be repeated millions of times throughout a genome. The human genome, for example, has 3.2 billion pairs of bases.



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What is a genome and why is it so important?

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The human genome

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How big is the human genome?

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Genomics research


5) Icon: Did you know ? 5) Icon: Did you know ?

Did you know?
5) Icon: Did you know ? 5) Icon: Did you know ?

The word "genome" is a combination of "gene" and "chromosome".







The arrangement of these bases is extremely important, and determines the kind of an organism, whether a plant, animal or a fungus. It is the countless possible arrangements of these four bases that account for the huge diversity of life on Earth.

Researchers study not only the human genome, but also the genomes of all kinds of creatures, from microbes to animals like mice and pigs. The more we learn about other genomes, the more we may discover about our own.
2) Photo: Contrasting DNA sequences.


Enlarge image.Contrasting DNA sequences.



3) Illustration: DNA strand segment showing bases.


Enlarge image.DNA strand segment showing bases.

Fawcett, Visuals Unlimited Inc.
Chromosome.

Answer 3

In biology the genome of an organism is its whole hereditary information and is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). This includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA. The term was coined in 1920 by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany, as a combination of the words gene and chromosome.

More precisely, the genome of an organism is a complete DNA sequence of one set of chromosomes; for example, one of the two sets that a diploid individual carries in every somatic cell. The term genome can be applied specifically to mean the complete set of nuclear DNA (i.e., the "nuclear genome") but can also be applied to organelles that contain their own DNA, as with the mitochondrial genome or the chloroplast genome. When people say that the genome of a sexually reproducing species has been "sequenced," typically they are referring to a determination of the sequences of one set of autosomes and one of each type of sex chromosome, which together represent both of the possible sexes. Even in species that exist in only one sex, what is described as "a genome sequence" may be a composite from the chromosomes of various individuals. In general use, the phrase "genetic makeup" is sometimes used conversationally to mean the genome of a particular individual or organism. The study of the global properties of genomes of related organisms is usually referred to as genomics, which distinguishes it from genetics which generally studies the properties of single genes or groups of genes.

Answer 4

the genome of an organism is a complete DNA sequence of one set of chromosomes...

Answer 5

To put it simply, genome is one set of total number of genes of an organism.The term' ONE SET OF GENES' is used because many organisms have two sets of each gene, which means they are diploid organisms.Those that have only one set of total number of genes are called haploid.For example, a bacterium is haploid, hence all the genes have only one copy.Human beings are diploid creatures, and thus have two sets of all the genes in their cells except in secondary oocytes, ova in females, and in males in secondary spermatocytes, and sperms.

Answer 6

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/primer/genetics_genome.html

This tells you what a genome is. Happy Reading

Answer 7

it is the entire set of chromosome presentin an individual

Answer 8

a nome named norm