lethal gene
- noun
- /ˈliːθəl dʒiːn/
- Specialized
:
gen letal
- In California, a lethal gene has been inserted into the crop-damaging pink bollworm.
Examples
-
It is likely that a greater number of recessive lethal genes are present in species with a low isolate potential than in those with a high isolate potential.
Academic text (2002) -
In California, a lethal gene has been inserted into the crop-damaging pink bollworm.
-
Araucanas carry a lethal gene that causes one quarter of chicks to die in the shell.
-
Truest bred carry a lethal gene which is also connected to the shortened leg characteristic.
How Harmful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents are semantically transparent — 'lethal' means 'causing death' and 'gene' is a DNA unit — so a B1 learner who knows those words can readily infer that a 'lethal gene' is a gene that causes death. This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase found across languages and scientific discourse, so the meaning is predictable from its parts.
Etymology
The noun lethal gene joins lethal (meaning 'deadly') and gene (a small instruction in a living thing). If that instruction makes the body stop living, the animal or person will die, so the term means 'a gene that causes death'.