genetics

noun (used with a singular verb)

1. Biology. the science of heredity, dealing with resemblances and differences of related organisms resulting from the interaction of their genes and the environment.
2. the genetic properties and phenomena of an organism.

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the branch of biology concerned with the study of heredity and variation in organisms
2. the genetic features and constitution of a single organism, species, or group

n.

1872, “laws of origination;” see genetic + -ics. A coinage of English biologist William Bateson (1861-1926). Meaning “study of heredity” is from 1891.

n.

1. The branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited traits among similar or related organisms.

1. The scientific study of the principles of heredity and the variation of inherited traits among related organisms.

The study of heredity, or how the characteristics of living things are transmitted from one generation to the next. Every living thing contains the genetic material that makes up DNA molecules. This material is passed on when organisms reproduce. The basic unit of heredity is the gene. (See chromosomes; dominant trait; genetic code; Gregor Mendel; recessive trait; and sexual reproduction.)