heterozygotami

Heterozygotami is a term used in genetics to describe an individual or a cell that has two different alleles for a particular gene. Alleles are different versions of the same gene. For example, a gene for eye color might have an allele for brown eyes and an allele for blue eyes. If an individual has one allele for brown eyes and one allele for blue eyes, they are heterozygous for that gene.

This contrasts with being homozygous, where an individual has two identical alleles for a particular gene. For instance, someone homozygous for eye color might have two alleles for brown eyes or two alleles for blue eyes. The combination of alleles an organism possesses, its genotype, determines its traits, which are the observable characteristics, known as the phenotype. In cases of heterozygosity, the interaction between the two different alleles can result in various outcomes. One allele might be dominant, meaning its trait is expressed even if only one copy is present, while the other allele is recessive and only expressed if two copies are present. Alternatively, both alleles might contribute to the phenotype in a codominant fashion, or they might blend together to produce an intermediate trait. Understanding heterozygosity is fundamental to comprehending inheritance patterns and genetic variation within populations.