homozygoter

A homozygote is an individual organism that possesses two identical alleles for a particular gene. Alleles are different versions of the same gene. For example, if a gene controls eye color and has alleles for blue eyes and brown eyes, a person with two alleles for blue eyes is homozygous for that gene. Similarly, a person with two alleles for brown eyes is also homozygous. The term is often contrasted with heterozygote, which describes an individual having two different alleles for the same gene. In simple terms, if a gene has two alleles, say A and a, then an individual with the genotype AA or aa is homozygous. The presence of two identical alleles means that the organism will express the trait associated with that allele. This concept is fundamental in genetics and helps explain patterns of inheritance and the manifestation of traits in offspring. Homozygosity can occur for many different genes within an organism, contributing to its overall genetic makeup.