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digenic

digenic

9.3
A condition that appears only when two different genes each have a change
  • adjective
  • /ˈdaɪdʒɛnɪk/
  • Specialized
: digenético
  • There is strong evidence that only 5% of POAG (65) is caused by a single gene, and other cases of POAG are caused by digenic or polygenic cooperation mechanisms, none of which may alone cause glaucoma.
  • digenic inheritance

Examples

  • The interaction of CYP1B1 with MYOC and TEK, respectively, in the pathogenesis of PCG further lends support to the digenic inheritance of PCG.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Research suggests that a digenic relationship between two genes can influence the risk of developing certain diseases.

  • These results demonstrate that there is a possible digenic interaction between MYOC and CYP1B1, without excluding the possibility that there has been an unidentified gene associated with glaucoma.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Geneticists study digenic interactions to understand how multiple genes work together in complex traits.

  • The researchers found that digenic effects are significant in the inheritance of some traits in plants.

Surface Forms

digenic positive

Morphology

digenic = genic (semi-transparent) = di + gene + ic

The formation is regular (prefix 'di-' + base 'genic'), but '-genic' is a combining form and the term is technical, so it may not be immediately transparent to average learners.

Etymology

Digenic comes from the parts di- meaning 'two' and genic, which is the same root as gene. So a digenic condition involves two genes working together to cause a trait or disease.