9781422272312

A person’s physical features, such as hair color, eye color and shape, and skin color, are determined by their genes. In recent years, scientists have found that genes also play a role in addiction to nicotine. WORDS TO UNDERSTAND abnormalities: things that are notably different or unusual. A genetic mutation is an abnormality because it may be unique to one particular animal or species allele: one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome chromosome: a threadlike structure of nucleic acids and protein found in the nuclei of most living cells, which carries genetic information DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid, a material that carries genetic information and is present in the chromosomes of all living organisms heredity: the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another predisposition: an increased likelihood that a person will act or react in a certain way, or suffer from a certain condition. A genetic predisposition means that a person is likely to inherit a trait from his or her parents RNA: ribonucleic acid, a nucleic acid present in all living cells that acts as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for controlling the synthesis of proteins

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Nicotine and Genetics: The Hereditary Predisposition