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Glite Dictionary
mosaicism

mosaicism

9.9
Some cells in the same body have different genes
  • noun
  • /moʊˈzeɪɪsɪzm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : mosaicismo
  • Studies on mosaicism reveal how certain genetic defects can result in unique characteristics among different cell populations.

Examples

  • Mosaicism can lead to significant variations in an organism's physical traits due to different genetic makeups among its cells.

  • Are you familiar with the term "genetic mosaicism"?

    The Unborn (2009)

  • The other possibility is that mosaicism may have occurred in one of the parents, perhaps in the gonads.

    Academic text (2004)

  • That produces mosaicism and usually a male phenotype for the most part, not half and half.

    Blog text (8)

  • (Not being 100% is due to mosaicism, whereby one cell that is tested may be normal; however, one or more of the other cells might have aneuploidy.

    Blog text (5)

  • In mosaicism, some cells may have mutations that others do not, illustrating the diversity in genetic composition.

Surface Forms

mosaicism singular
mosaicisms plural

Morphology

mosaicism = mosaic (semi-transparent) = mosaic + ism

Formed by 'mosaic' + '-ism' meaning 'state/condition', but the sense is a specialized biological term so learners may not infer the precise genetic meaning from 'mosaic' alone.

Etymology

Mosaicism comes from the word mosaic meaning the art of making pictures from many small pieces and the ending -ism meaning 'a condition'. So mosaicism is like a body made of different cell 'tiles', which explains why some parts can have different genes and show different symptoms.