Relating to genes, genetics, or heredity; passing traits from parents to offspring through biological inheritance.
From genetic (Greek genos, 'race, stock, origin') + -al suffix. Emerged in the 1900s as genetics became a formalized science, particularly after rediscovery of Mendel's laws.
While 'genetic' dominates modern use, 'genetical' survives in formal scientific writing—it's like how 'mathematical' and 'mathematic' both work, but one feels more scholarly and Victorian.
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