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glossary

Expression

Image of gene expression. Starting with a gray chromosome, DNA nucleosomes are acetylated and chromatin is exposed. The chromatin then exposes a DNA segment that is translated into RNA to then be transcribed into a protein. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

A product being made from a gene; can refer to either RNA or protein. When a gene is turned on, cellular machines “express” this by transcribing the DNA into RNA and/or translating the RNA into a chain of amino acids. For example, a “highly expressed” gene will have many RNA copies produced, and its protein product is likely to be abundant in the cell. CRISPRi and CRISPRa are methods for turning gene expression down or up, respectively.

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