pseudocopy

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noun

An imperfect (mutated or incomplete) copy of a gene that is inserted into another segment of the DNA or RNA.

Scrabble 20

Meanings

nounpseudocopy (plural pseudocopies)

plural pseudocopies

  1. biologyAn imperfect (mutated or incomplete) copy of a gene that is inserted into another segment of the DNA or RNA.

    The disrupted pseudogene is in the mouse a pseudocopy of a gene of unknown function, called makorin 1.

    2017, Hani K. Rizk, Evolution Oriented Genome Personalised: The Big Bang and its Output, page 258
    2 more examples

    This could reflect the presence of only one bona fide copy of the element and one pseudocopy, assuming that the latter is mutated to an extent preventing adequate primer binding but allowing detection by hybridization.

    1994, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, page 2822

    In order to make even a pseudocopy of a gene, a dozen sophisticated proteins are required: to pry apart the two DNA strands, to align the copying machinery at the right place, to stitch the nucleotides together into a string, to insert the pseudocopy back into the DNA, and much more.

    2001, Michael J. Behe, Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

pseudocopy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudocopy

MLA

“pseudocopy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudocopy. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pseudocopy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudocopy.

Source: pseudocopy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.