Horizontal gene transfer
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), also Lateral gene transfer (LGT), is any process in which an organism incorporates genetic material from another organism without being the offspring of that organism. By contrast, vertical transfer occurs when an organism receives genetic material from its ancestor, e.g. its parent or a species from which it evolved. Most thinking in genetics has focused on the more prevalent vertical transfer, but there is a recent awareness that horizontal gene transfer is a significant phenomenon. Artificial horizontal gene transfer is a form of genetic engineering.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Horizontal gene transfer" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
