genetics

American  

[juh-net-iks] / dʒəˈnɛt ɪks /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

genetics plural

1. Biology. the science of heredity, dealing with resemblances and differences of related organisms resulting from the interaction of their genes and the environment.

2. the genetic properties and phenomena of an organism.

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genetics British  

/ dʒɪˈnɛtɪks /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the branch of biology concerned with the study of heredity and variation in organisms

2. the genetic features and constitution of a single organism, species, or group

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genetics Scientific  

/ jə-nĕt′ĭks /

1. The scientific study of the principles of heredity and the variation of inherited traits among related organisms.

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genetics Cultural  

1. The study of heredity, or how the characteristics of living things are transmitted from one generation to the next. Every living thing contains the genetic material that makes up DNA molecules. This material is passed on when organisms reproduce. The basic unit of heredity is the gene. (See chromosomes; dominant trait; genetic code; Gregor Mendel; recessive trait; and sexual reproduction.)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• genetics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of genetics

First recorded in 1905; see genetic, -ics; term first proposed in this sense by British biologist William Bateson (1861–1926)

Compare meaning

How does genetics compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• heredity vs. genetics

Explanation

Genetics is the study of the traits people and other animals inherit from their family through DNA. Compare the size of your nose to your father's and you are dealing with genetics — but only if he's your biological father. Genetics involves studying genes — DNA — to look at how organisms evolve and are related. Scientists use genetics to prove whether genes for things like depression or intelligence exist. One of the most commonly discussed examples of genetics is what determines if a man will lose his hair: oddly, men inherit the baldness gene from their mothers, not their fathers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

genetics

Victims of a 2023 data hack at genetics testing company 23andMe are set to receive a multi-million payout from the firm.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

She walked away from a job offer at a frontier biotech company and her plans to pursue a Ph.D. in genetics and co-founded a startup building knowledge systems for biolabs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

"I physically felt different, I felt like I didn't know who I was and I began to question every tiny thing that I did, wondering if it was down to my genetics," said Gemma.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

But genetics explained only about 10% of the risk.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026

If identical twins possess a strong concordance for schizophrenia, say, while fraternal twins—born and bred in an identical environment—show little concordance, then the roots of that illness can be firmly attributed to genetics.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• ancestry
• lineage