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Possible definitions for genetic

genetics
Study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. Modern genetics began with the work of G. Mendel, who formulated the basic laws of heredity. W. Sutton proposed that chromosomes were the site of Mendel's hereditary factors. The Hardy-Weinberg law established the mathematical basis for studying heredity in populations. T. H. Morgan provided evidence that genes occur on chromosomes and that adjacent genes on the same chromosome form linkage groups. O. Avery showed that DNA is the chromosome component that carries genetic information. DNA's molecular structure was deduced by J. Watson and F. Crick. These and other developments led to the deciphering of the genetic code of the DNA molecule, which in turn made possible the recombination techniques of genetic engineering. An understanding of genetics is useful for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of hereditary diseases, the breeding of plants and animals, and the development of industrial processes that use microorganisms. See also behavior genetics.


benefice
System of land tenure first used by the Franks during the 8th cent. A Frankish lord leased an estate to a freeman in beneficium (Latin: "for the benefit (of the tenant)"), normally until the death of the lord or tenant, though tenants often succeeded in turning benefices into hereditary holdings. By the 12th cent. benefice was dying out as a term for land tenure; instead it referred to a church office that carried with it the right of receiving income. A lord or bishop chose a priest, who was granted the benefice in return for the performance of spiritual duties.


Genesis
First book of the Bible. Its name, taken from its first verse, means "beginning." Genesis provides the creation story for Judaism and Christianity and begins the history of the Israelite people. In addition to God's creation of the universe, it includes the story of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, and God's covenant with the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concluding with the story of Jacob's son Joseph. It is traditionally ascribed to Moses, but modern scholarship has identified at least three literary strains in it, dating from 950 BC to the 5th cent. BC, though incorporating material from much earlier. It is one of the five books of the Old Testament that make up the Pentateuch (see Torah).


Genet
French novelist and dramatist. An illegitimate child abandoned by his mother, he began to write while imprisoned for burglary. His first novel, Our Lady of the Flowers (1944), portrays an underworld of thugs, pimps, and hustlers. Miracle of the Rose (1945-46) is based on his adolescence at a notorious reform school, and The Thief's Journal (1949) recounts his life as a tramp, pickpocket, and prostitute. He became a leading figure in avant-garde theater with such plays as The Maids (1947), The Balcony (1956), and The Blacks (1958), ...

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