Deletion: Loss of a segment of DNA from a chromosome (and hence from the genome).
The first human chromosome deletion was detected in 1963 by Jerome Lejeune and his colleagues in Paris. They discovered loss of part of 5p, the short (p) arm of chromosome 5, in children with a hitherto-undescribed condition with mental retardation and multiple congenital anomalies (birth defects) they named the cri du chat (cat-cry) syndrome.
A chromosome deletion is the opposite of a chromosomal duplication.
de·le·tion (d-l sh n) n. 1. The act of deleting; removal by striking out. 2. Material, such as a word or passage, that has been removed from a body of written or ...
Definition of DELETION. 1: the act of deleting. 2. a: something deleted b (1): the absence of a section of genetic material from a gene or chromosome (2): the ...
deletion /de·le·tion/ (dĕ-le´shun) in genetics, loss of genetic material from a chromosome. Examples of large-scale chromosomal deletions: (A), terminal; (B), ...
noun 1. an act or instance of deleting . 2. the state of being deleted . 3. a deleted word, passage, etc. 4. Genetics . a type of chromosomal aberration in which a ...
Absence of a segment of DNA; may be as small as a single base or large enough to encompass one or more entire genes. Large deletions involving a whole segment ...