genome

American  

[jee-nohm] / ˈdʒi noʊm /

Also genom

noun

Genetics.

1. a full set of chromosomes; all the inheritable traits of an organism.

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genome British  

/ ˈdʒiːnəʊm, dʒɪˈnɒmɪk /

noun

1. the full complement of genetic material within an organism

2. all the genes comprising a haploid set of chromosomes

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genome Scientific  

/ jē′nōm /

1. The total amount of genetic information in the chromosomes of an organism, including its genes and DNA sequences. The genome of eukaryotes is made up of a single, haploid set of chromosomes that is contained in the nucleus of every cell and exists in two copies in all cells except reproductive and red blood cells. The human genome is made up of about 20,000 to 25,000 genes.

2. Compare proteome

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genome Cultural  

1. The sum of all information contained in the DNA for any living thing. The sequence of all the nucleotides in all the chromosomes of an organism.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• genomic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of genome

First recorded in 1925–30; from German Genom, from Gen gene + (Chromos)om chromosome

Explanation

The human genome is the map of your DNA, the double helix that contains all your genes. Your genome is all the genetic material contained in your 23 pairs of chromosomes, a total of more than 20,000 genes. Every organism has its own unique genome. "The Human Genome Project," completed in 2003, was an international effort to identify all the genes in human DNA and to determine the sequences of the 3 billion (yes, billion) base pairs — the smaller units that make up DNA. It took 13 years. Genome research has helped diagnose disease and find genetic markers for certain diseases.

Example Sentences

Whole genome sequencing linked his illness to the outbreak strain associated with The Kebab Shop beef kofta, according to the lawsuit.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026

To better understand how island evolution works, researchers compared the Scottish island birds with wrens from mainland Britain using body measurements, song recordings, and whole genome sequencing.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2026

Scientists have long known that whole genome duplication can have major consequences.

From Science Daily • May 25, 2026

"My lab has been really motivated to understand how RNA viruses produce their proteins inside the cell and multiply their genome to make more virus particles," Koirala says.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2026

But the written word is a recent invention that has left no trace in our genome and must be laboriously acquired throughout childhood and beyond.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker