A gene is an inherited functional unit of genetic material. In cellular organisms, a gene is a region of DNA whose information produces a functional RNA or contributes to a protein. This connects inheritance to cellular chemistry: a change in a gene can alter the amount or activity of a protein, and thereby a phenotype. See NHGRI: gene.
Alternative inherited versions at a genetic locus are alleles. The distinction matters: two parents can carry the same gene but different alleles, and a genetic locus can have variation outside a gene. Neither the word gene nor a change in DNA alone specifies the resulting phenotype.
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A gene is a fundamental unit of heredity in living organisms. It is a segment of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that contains the instructions necessary for the synthesis of proteins, which perform a wide range of functions in the body, including structural, regulatory, and enzymatic roles. Genes are organized along chromosomes, which are structures found in the nucleus of cells. Each gene has a specific location, known as a locus, on a chromosome and can vary in size.
