Units of heredity composed of DNA that determine specific traits in organisms. Segments of chromosomes that carry genetic information from parents to offspring.
Coined in 1909 by Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen from Greek genos meaning 'race, offspring, or kind'. The term replaced earlier concepts like 'hereditary factors' as genetic science developed.
The word 'gene' is barely a century old, yet it revolutionized how we understand life itself. Johannsen created this term before DNA's structure was known - he was naming something whose physical nature remained mysterious for decades.
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