heterozygote

noun

het·​ero·​zy·​gote ˌhe-tə-rō-ˈzī-ˌgōt 

: a heterozygous individual

Examples of heterozygote in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Though by definition these loss-of-function variants don't kill you, in general there is the assumption that this class of mutants does exhibit some fitness drag (e.g., the fitness of a heterozygote for a variant which is lethal as a homozygote genotype may be ~0.90). —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 22 Feb. 2012

The heterozygote combinations are for a variety of species, as indicated in the figure text. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2010

Observe that the heterozygote seems to exhibit a value closer to the European/light homozygote than the the African/dark homozygote! —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 July 2011

Sickle-cell disease one of the classical illustrations of heterozygote advantage, whereby those who carry one copy of the mutation on the gene have increased fitness vis-a-vis those who carry two normal copies of the gene. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 22 July 2010

But consider a scenario where one parent is a heterozygote, and the other a homozygote for the dominant trait. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 17 Aug. 2010

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

heterozygote

noun

het·​ero·​zy·​gote ˌhet-ə-rō-ˈzī-ˌgōt 

: a heterozygous individual

Medical Definition

heterozygote

noun

het·​ero·​zy·​gote -ˈzī-ˌgōt 

: a heterozygous individual

heterozygotic

-(ˌ)zī-ˈgät-ik 

adjective