heterozygous
adjective
het·ero·zy·gous
ˌhe-tə-rō-ˈzī-gəs 
: having the two alleles at corresponding loci on homologous chromosomes different for one or more loci
Examples of heterozygous in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The thief got away with his founding albino male as well as females that were heterozygous for the trait.
—
Rebecca Giggs, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
That’s because apples happen to be extremely heterozygous, meaning that just one tree can produce an incredible variation in offspring, leaving no two apple trees the same.
—Laura Kiniry, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Dec. 2023
The 10 patients in this Phase 1 trial had heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disease that causes high levels of bad cholesterol and advanced heart disease.
—Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 13 Nov. 2023
Verve's research was limited to people with a genetic condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, in which cholesterol levels are sky-high from birth.
—Erika Edwards, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2023
When the raider ants became clonal and heterozygous, with just one copy of the supergene, the parasitic behavior disappeared — but the supergene persisted.
—Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 8 May 2023
Inheritance was predicted at 2.8 × 10^6 parental heterozygous sites with 98.1% accuracy.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 6 June 2012
Cutaneous pharmacologic cAMP induction induces melanization of the skin and improves recovery from ultraviolet injury in melanocortin 1 receptor-intact or heterozygous skin.
—Sarah Ladd, The Courier-Journal, 29 Aug. 2020
Using a dataset of the genomes of more than 400 deceased people, the researchers looked for instances of heterozygous genes: genes that are the result of a person inheriting a human gene from one parent and a Neanderthal gene from another.
—Ben Panko, Smithsonian, 24 Feb. 2017
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Rebecca Giggs, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
That’s because apples happen to be extremely heterozygous, meaning that just one tree can produce an incredible variation in offspring, leaving no two apple trees the same.
—Laura Kiniry, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Dec. 2023
The 10 patients in this Phase 1 trial had heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disease that causes high levels of bad cholesterol and advanced heart disease.
—Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 13 Nov. 2023
Verve's research was limited to people with a genetic condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, in which cholesterol levels are sky-high from birth.
—Erika Edwards, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2023
When the raider ants became clonal and heterozygous, with just one copy of the supergene, the parasitic behavior disappeared — but the supergene persisted.
—Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 8 May 2023
Inheritance was predicted at 2.8 × 10^6 parental heterozygous sites with 98.1% accuracy.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 6 June 2012
Cutaneous pharmacologic cAMP induction induces melanization of the skin and improves recovery from ultraviolet injury in melanocortin 1 receptor-intact or heterozygous skin.
—Sarah Ladd, The Courier-Journal, 29 Aug. 2020
Using a dataset of the genomes of more than 400 deceased people, the researchers looked for instances of heterozygous genes: genes that are the result of a person inheriting a human gene from one parent and a Neanderthal gene from another.
—Ben Panko, Smithsonian, 24 Feb. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Heterozygous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heterozygous. Accessed 2 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
heterozygous
adjective
het·ero·zy·gous
ˌhet-ə-rō-ˈzī-ˌgəs
: having at least one gene pair that contains different genes
a pea plant heterozygous for seed color
Medical Definition
heterozygous
adjective
het·ero·zy·gous
-gəs
: having the two genes at corresponding loci on homologous chromosomes different for one or more loci compare homozygous
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