Occurrence of more than one morphotype within an interbreeding population of a single species; compare dimorphism.

Common variation or mutation in DNA, not always harmful.

in genetics, variability in a DNA sequence.

The existence within a population of two alleles of a gene, where the frequency of the rare allele is greater than 1%, and not attributable to recurrent mutation.

The presence of several forms of a trait, gene or DNA sequence in a population.

The occurrence of different forms, stages, or types in individual organisms or in organisms of the same species, independent of sexual variations.

In classical population genetics, polymorphism refers to the coexistance of different alleles in a population/species at significant frequencies (the most frequent allele should be less than 95%%). However, the term polymorphism is frequently used simply to indicate that genetic variation occurs within a certain part of the genome. In extreme, polymorphism can refer to just one nucleotide, e.g., SNP.

A gene that exists in more than one version (allele), and where the rare allele can be found in more than 2% of the population.

The occurrence of two or more variations of a phenotype or gene.

DNA sequence variation that occurs in at least 1% of the population.

The existence within a species or population of different forms of individuals, beyond those that are the result simply of recurrent mutation.

The existence of two or more genetically different classes in the same interbreeding population.

1. The occurrence of allelic variation at a locus. Polymorphism in nucleotide sequences has provided powerful diagnostic tools. See: DNA diagnostics, microsatellites, restriction fragment length polymorphism. 2. The occurrence of two or more forms in a population.

A polymorphism is a place in the human genome where a base can take on multiple forms. For example, a certain base may be A in one person and C in another. The length of some sections of DNA are also polymorphic. For example a particular segment may be 12 bases long in some people and 21 bases in others.

The presence in a population of two or more different forms of a gene, genetic marker, or inherited trait.

Scientific term for “gene variation.

the occurrence of two or more different types (morphs) within one species

( genetic polymorphism) The coexistence of two or more alleles at a locus.

Frequently occurring (common), usually normal variation, in a defined nucleotide sequence. Polymorphisms in genes may result in protein polymorphisms. A protein polymorphism is said to occur when the most common allele has a frequency of no greater than 99%.

A change in the sequence of DNA associated with a large portion of the population.  Polymorphisms may or may not be linked to specific diseases.

naturally occurring variation in the sequence of a gene

(pol´ lee mor´ fiz um) [Gr. poly: many + morphe: form, shape] • (1) In genetics, the coexistence in the same population of two distinct hereditary types based on different alleles. (2) In social organisms such as colonial cnidarians and social insects, the coexistence of two or more functionally different castes within the same colony.

Difference in DNA sequence among individuals that occurs in 1% or more of a population.

The presence of more than one allele at a locus in a population; usually the word is used only when at least two alleles are fairly common.

A naturally occurring or induced variation in the sequence of genetic information on a segment of DNA.

(biology) the existence of two or more forms of individuals within the same animal species (independent of sex differences)

a change to the reference gene that does not cause disease or significantly alter gene function

a common mutation

an allelic variation in the genetic code of a particular gene sequence

a situation in which a characteristic possessed by individuals in the normal population varies

a trait (in this case a gene sequence) that is variable in a population

a trait which shows variability in a population (e

A natural variation in a gene, piece of DNA, protein, or chromosome that has no effect on the individual who inherits it.

a change in the DNA code that does not alter the functioning of a gene and therefore does not cause a disease. Some polymorphisms can confer some susceptibility or resistance to disease. close window

more than one distinct form within a species.

The simultaneous occurrence of two or more versions of a gene in a population.In mitochondrial DNA, it usually refers to different bases at a particular position, such as A750G.The frequency of the rarest form of the polymorphism is higher than can be maintained by recurrent mutation.

The existence, in a population, of two or more relatively common alleles at a genetic locus.

A frequently observed and statistically relevant occurrence of an alternate form of a nucleotide in a strand of DNA. A benign nucleotide change in the DNA strand (Ford, 1997).

Differences in DNA sequences that occur naturally in a population. Single nucleotide substitutions, insertions and deletions of nucleotides and repetitive sequences (microsatellites) are all examples of a polymorphism. The position at which such a sequence difference is found is a polymorphic site.

Where a number of variations occur, e.g. of a particular enzyme, or a number of different alleles at a locus.

in this context, the existence of inter-individual differences in DNA sequences coding for one specific gene. The effects of such differences may vary dramatically, ranging from no effect at all to the building of inactive proteins.

A common variation in the DNA sequence.

A highly variable chromosomal region where many different alleles of the same gene exist in different people within a population.

The occurrence of two or more states of a character in a single species.

A variation in DNA sequence within a population.

the normal, i.e., non-disease causing, variation of DNA

The occurrence of slightly different looking individuals within the same species; slight variations within one species.

Various forms of a gene exist at one particular locus.

The combination of multiple allelic forms and polygenic structure, causes a large number of different gene combinations to be formed. This gives rise to the variablilty of some proteins, such as the MHC.

A variation or mutation at a genetic location.

The presence of two or more alleles of a gene or other DNA sequence in a population. A variant allele that occurs in less than 1 percent of the population is considered a mutation.

Genetic characteristic with more than one common form in a population.

Variation in a region of DNA sequence among different individuals; the variation should be present in at least 1-2% of the population to be considered a polymorphism.

A genetic term. Polymorphisms are changes in the genetic code (like mutations) that occur commonly enough in the population such that they are considered a variation on normal. These may be harmful, helpful or neither to the persons who have a polymorphism.

See mutation.

Frequently occurring variation in a nucleotide sequence. Polymorphisms in genes result in protein polymorphisms. A polymorphism is said to occur when the most common allele has a frequency of no greater than 99 percent. Some forms of some polymorphisms are associated with increased risk of disease.

A trait of an organism that is found in more than one state in a population. Also used for the existence of different forms of a gene in a population. For example, one well known polymorphism of color vision is the existence of both red-green dichromats and normal trichromats in the human population.

Having multiple forms. Genetic polymorphism of an enzyme (such as P450) means that there are genetically based differences in forms of that receptor.

(lit. many forms) The existence of a gene in a population in at least two different forms at a frequency far higher than that attributable to recurrent mutation alone. Variations in a population may be measured by determining the rate of mutation in polymorphic genes (see SNPs).

One or more variations (alleles) of a gene that may express different phenotypes such as hair color and height.

Variations in DNA sequences in a population that are detected in human DNA identification testing.

A stretch of DNA located at the same relative location on a chromosome but differing in the amount or order of nucleotides.

Literally many shapes. Variations of chromosome appearance which are considered to be normal. These 'normal variants' are passed on within families without causing any problems in development.

1) The existence of more than one form or type in a species, beyond simple gender differences. Social insects such as honeybees with queens, drones, and workers demonstrate polymorphism. 2) Another term for pleomorphism, the occurrence of distinct forms during the life cycle of a plant or animal, such as the caterpillar and pupa that precede the adult.

Several forms occurring within the same species

Normal variation in genetic information. Used to describe minor variation in chromosome shape and normal or abnormal variation in molecular structure or content of genes.

A naturally occurring variation in the sequence of genetic information on a segment of DNA among individuals

A segment of DNA that has more than one form (allele), each of which occurs at a frequency of at least 1%. Polymorphisms are a natural part of genetic variation. A polymorphism in a gene may or may not affect its function.

Variable number of alleles for a test system. Systems that are highly polymorphic provide a greater power of exclusion

a common gene alteration seen in a certain percentage of the population, that may not be associated with disease.

Natural variations in a gene, DNA sequence, protein, or chromosome that have no adverse effect on the individual and occur with fairly high frequency in the general population Related Terms: allele ; allelic variant of unknown significance ; benign variant ; mutation ; restriction fragment length polymorphism

Where two or more alleles exist for a gene, such that at least two of the alleles are present in more than 1% of the chromosomes in a population.

An allele with a frequency in a population of at least 1 percent.

The occurrence of various alleles of a genetic marker in a population.

Difference in DNA sequence among individuals. Genetic variations occurring in more than 1% of a population would be considered useful polymorphisms for genetic linkage analysis. Compare mutation.

Variation. Presence of two or more different nucleotides at the same genetic position

Difference in DNA sequence among individuals of a given species due to the presence of two or more alleles of a given locus.

see genetic polymorphism

the simultaneous occurrence in the population of genomes showing allelic variations (e.g. as seen in alleles producing different phenotypes)

The occurrence in a population of two or more distinct forms of a genetically determined characteristic.

The property of a chemical substance crystallizing into two or more forms having different structures, such as diamond, graphite, and fullerenes from carbon. Also known as pleomorphism.

A difference in DNA sequence among individuals.

These sequence variations, or polymorphisms, make up many of the landmarks on modern genetic-linkage maps ... (IOCeleraGenome) Polimorfismo A seqüência contida no clone P3 não detectou nenhum polimorfismo enquanto que as seqüências... (POUniverRS)

A relatively common DNA sequence variation within a population at a given chromosomal location.

The occurrence of more than one form of, for example, a DNA sequence, type of protein or morphological trait in a group of organisms, revealing underlying genetic variation in the population.

having multiple forms of an allele at a locus within a population. Forensic scientists look for areas of DNA that are polymorphic because these allow people to be told apart from each other by their DNA.

The occurrence of many forms of the same species.

The property of having more than one state or alternate sequence at a particular position. The alternate states are called alleles.

Genetic variation. An enzyme that is expressed in some individuals but not others is said to be a polymorphic enzyme, as are enzymes that are encoded by the same gene locus but differ by one or more amino acids. These latter enzymes are also known as allelic variants or allelozymes.

A variant form of a gene. Most polymorphisms are harmless and are part of normal human genetic variation.

The occurrence in a population (or among populations) of several phenotypic forms associated with alleles of one gene or homologs of one chromosome.

A common (frequent) variation in the sequence of DNA among individuals.

Two or more kinds of physiological individuals maintained in a breeding population.

The occurrence of different crystalline forms of the same drug substance

The coexistence of several well-defined distinct phenotypes or alleles in a population.

Literally, "having many shapes"; in genetics polymorphism means occurring in more than one form within a species; the existence of multiple alleles at a particular genetic locus.

A variation in DNA sequence that does not disrupt genetic function or cause disease.

A variation in DNA sequence between individuals, which may cause no harm, or may make a gene faulty in the way it directs the production of a protein.

that which can assume several forms. In the case of DNA, these are sequences that are highly variable in different individuals.

A common variation among persons in the sequence of DNA; technically a locus is polymorphic when two or more of the alleles at this locus are present in 1% of the population.

The existence of distinctly different alleles in one population. Eg, different blood groups in humans.

The existence of more than one form of a genetic trait.

Individual differences in DNA. Single nucleotide polymorphism (the difference of one nucleotide in a DNA strand) is currently of interest to a number of companies.

the presence more than one distinct phenotypes in a population

The occurrence together of two or more distinctly different forms (morphs) of a species, the rarest form comprising more than 0.01% of the population and so being maintained by selection.

The appearance in a population of the same gene in multiple forms because of mutations.

In biology, polymorphism (from Greek: poly "many", morph "form") can be defined as discontinuous genetic variation that results in the occurrence of several different forms or types of individuals among the members of a single species. The most obvious example of polymorphism is the separation of most higher organisms into male and female sexes. Another classic example is the different melanic and non-melanic morphs of the peppered moth.

A process used with fats and oils which may form different crystal types [with the same chemical/molecular structure] depending upon the cooling conditions.

the property of being polymorphic. see also: ad hoc polymorphism coercion inclusion polymorphism overloading parametric polymorphism universal polymorphism

In object-oriented programming, the technique whereby the same operation means different things, depending on the class of the operand to which it is applied.

Polymorphism refers to the ability of the same message to be sent to different objects with different results. Thus the + operator might be sent to an integer to perform integer arithmetic, or to a floating point number to perform floating point arithmetic, or to a string to perform concatenation. Dreams exhibits polymorphism implicitly due to the dynamic binding nature of method determination.

The technique of taking an abstract view of an object or function and using any concrete objects or arguments that are derived from this abstract view.

different crystal habits of the same molecule

The ability of one data item to have a different type depending on the way in which it is used.

The ability of a chemical compound to crystallize with more than one kind of crystal structure. For example Al2SiO, may crystallize as three different minerals, depending on the prevailing temperature and pressure.

a very useful tool in OO modeling, but sometimes you may want to restrict which code can use certain classes polymorphically

See routine overloading.

Technically, a concept from type theory whereby a strongly-typed function may accept values of more than one type (constrasts with monomorphism). Object-oriented languages exhibit polymorphism in three ways: inheritance an inherited method is polymorphic, because it applies uniformly to all object types under the class in which it is defined; overloading an overloaded method selects one from a family of methods according to the type of object - the calling expression is polymorphic; templates a paramterised method is polymorphic, because it applies uniformly to each type of object obtained by replacing the type parameter(s).

The ability of different objects to respond to the same message in different ways. This means that different objects can have very different method implementations for the same message. An object can send a message without concern for its underlying implementation.

This is the ability to have two different objects of two different types both implement the same method. It lets you write code that calls that method regardless of which type of object is in use at the moment.

the quality of appearing in many different forms at different stages in the same species.

Being able to refer to different derivations of a class in the same way, but getting the behavior appropriate to the derived class being referred to.

The quality or character of occurring in several different forms.

A means of factoring out differences amongst a collection of items so that programs may be written in terms of the common features.

The method invoked by a particular message depends on the object which receives it. For example, you could implement several different classes of bank account object (checking, savings, high rate). All bank account objects would respond to the message"printStatement". However, each different type of account would implement "printStatement" differently, in a way appropriate to itself – savings accounts show interest paid, but checking accounts don't. Polymorphism enables you to send the same message ("printStatement") to any type of account object and get appropriate results.

"A concept in type theory, according to which a name (such as a variable declaration) may denote objects of many different classes that are related by some common superclass; thus, any object denoted by this name is able to respond to some common set of operations in different ways." 1 Method overloading is also considered by some to be a form of polymorphism.

treating objects of many types in a uniform way

Using the same name to denote objects of different (but related by inheritance) types

Allows code to be written in a general fashion to handle existing and future related classes. Properly developed, the same behavior can act differently depending on the derived object it acts on. With an automobile, the acceleration behavior might be different for a station wagon and a dragster which are subclasses of the superclass automobile. The function would still be accelerate(), but the version would vary (this may sound confusing, but the compiler keeps track and figures it all out).

When a single algorithm is applicable to multiple types. Compile time polymorphism is provided in Ada via generic units. Instantiation as compile-time is used to specialize a generic unit to a particular type. Ada 95 also supports run-time polymorphism -- where a run-time type tag can be used to control which subprogram body is executed when a polymorphic algorithm calls a primitive operation with an operand of class-wide type.

a neutral genetic marker that may occur in any of several different forms.

the ability to send the same message to objects of different classes and have each class perform a method in its own way

based on the self-encryption technique, a virus encrypts its code in a different manner each time it infects (its signature changes each time). Through polymorphism, however, the virus also encrypts the routine or algorithm it uses to encode its signature. This means that the virus can create variants of itself that are completely different from one infection to another. To detect these complex viruses, antivirus programs use decryption simulation techniques.

Basically polymorphism is about transparently substituting one implementation for another. There is little need for substituting data implementations, so we are mostly concerned with behavior substitution. There are several forms of polymorphism supported for OO development: ad hoc, inclusion, overload, and parametric are the main ones of interest. (See categories on what OO is all about and relationships.)

Polymorphism is a term from the object-oriented world. It means that a child class can redefine a method already defined in the parent class. Chapter 14, "What Are Objects?" discusses polymorphism.

In object-oriented programming, the ability of different objects to respond, each in its own way, to the same message.

The ability in a programming language to use instances of subclass as though they were instances of the parent class.

Polymorphism is when the same method is interpreted differently by different objects. For a real world example, a telephone class has a ring method. A cell phone has a different ring that an older phone with mechanical bells. But when calling someone, the Phone.Ring() implementation doesn't matter - due to polymorphism, the two objects have the same interface with different implementations.

A property of class¤ hierarchies whereby the result of calling a specific virtual member¤ function¤ of an object depends on the actual (run-time) type of the object, rather than on the (compile-time) type of the pointer or reference¤ through which the call is initiated.

A virus is said to be polymorphic if its code appears to be different every time it replicates (though generally each replication of the virus is functionally identical). This is usually achieved by encrypting the body of the virus, and adding a decryption routine which is different for each replication. When a polymorphic virus replicates, a portion of the decryption code is modified. Additionally, random, do-nothing blocks of code can be embedded in the program and are shuffled around to further vary the signature. In essence, it looks like a different program to virus scanners.

When two different objects interpret the same message differently by implementing two different methods.

The ability of objects to handle different types of information and different requests for actions. Components are not typically polymorphic.

A virus that attempts to evade detection by changing its internal structure or its encryption techniques. Polymorphic viruses change form with each infection to avoid detection by anti-viral software scanning for signature forms. Less sophisticated systems are referred to as self-encrypting.

"Literally to take many forms. In object-oOriented design, subclasses of a class implement the public interface to the parent class in such a way that a message sent to a collection of parents and children would be responded to by each appropriately, without the caller knowing."

The existence of several asexual spore stages in the life cycle of an organism.

the ability of one molecule to crystallize into more than one crystal structure. Can affect important properties like stability, color, and dosages in drugs.

the ability to appear in many forms

The ability of a variable to hold values of more than one type.

The property of a fat molecules to exist in multiple crystalline structures; identified as alpha, beta and beta prime.