(genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain; it can include regions preceding and following the coding DNA as well as introns between the exons; it is considered a unit of heredity; "genes were formerly called factors"
hereditary succession to a title or an office or property
any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors; "my only inheritance was my mother's blessing"; "the world's heritage of knowledge"
(genetics) attributes acquired via biological heredity from the parents
that which is inherited; a title or property or estate that passes by law to the heir on the death of the owner
the act or process of assigning numbers to phenomena according to a rule; "the measurements were carefully done"; "his mental measurings proved remarkably accurate"
operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control; "automatic transmission"; "a budget deficit that caused automatic spending cuts"
like the unthinking functioning of a machine; "an automatic `thank you'"; "machinelike efficiency"
without volition or conscious control; "the automatic shrinking of the pupils of the eye in strong light"; "a reflex knee jerk"; "sneezing is reflexive"
the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society; "he had the status of a minor"; "the novel attained the status of a classic"; "atheists do not enjoy a favorable position in American life"