Imprinting
Imprinting (Medicine)
Imprinting (/ɪmˈprɪntɪŋ/) is a significant process in biology and psychology, particularly in the field of genetics and developmental psychology.
Etymology
The term 'imprinting' is derived from the German word 'prägung', which was first used in this context by the ethologist Konrad Lorenz to describe a form of learning in which an animal, at a specific critical period shortly after birth, follows the first moving object it sees, usually the mother.
Definition
In the context of medicine and genetics, imprinting refers to an epigenetic phenomenon by which certain genes are expressed in a parent-of-origin-specific manner. It's a process that involves gene expression in mammalian cells being influenced by the sex of the parent who contributed them. If the paternal allele is imprinted, it is thereby silenced, and only the maternal allele is expressed. If the maternal allele is imprinted, only the paternal allele is expressed.
Related Terms
- Genomic Imprinting: A phenomenon in genetics caused by imprinting, where the expression of a gene depends on whether it is inherited from the mother or the father.
- Epigenetics: The study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.
- Allele: One of two, or more, forms of a gene that are found at the same place on a chromosome.
- Gene Expression: The process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Imprinting
- Wikipedia's article - Imprinting
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