wild type

American  

noun

Genetics.

1. an organism having an appearance that is characteristic of the species in a natural breeding population.

2. the form or forms of a gene commonly occurring in nature in a given species.

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wild type British  

noun

1. biology the typical form of a species of organism resulting from breeding under natural conditions

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Other Word Forms

• wild-type adjective

Compare meaning

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

• wild type vs. mutant

Example Sentences

For example, it may be possible to chelate magnesium ions from bacterial environments, which should selectively inhibit resistant strains without impacting the wild type bacteria that may be beneficial to our health.

From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2024

Planned after wild type 2 poliovirus had been eradicated, the switch—which the report calls “the largest coordinated public health effort in history”—was like a trial run for that ultimate goal.

From Science Magazine • May 7, 2024

These plants were grown by single-seed descent for up to 32 generations from wild type exposed to different environments or from natural strains from distinct geographical origins.

From Science Daily • Sep. 29, 2023

"As new variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to emerge, it is important to assess the cross-neutralizing capabilities of antibodies naturally elicited during wild type SARS-CoV-2 infection," the authors explain.

From Salon • Sep. 12, 2022

If seed is gathered indiscriminately from all the heads which appear in the crop, succeeding generations will keep reverting until they return to the wild type, or something near it.

From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James)