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Molecular Genetics

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

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Synonyms

Genetic mapping; Genetic sequencing; Genomics

Definition

Molecular Genetics is a field within biology that studies the molecular structures, sequences, and activity of genes in order to better understand their function.

Introduction

Historically, the field of molecular genetics was concerned with broad topics in basic biological processes, reproduction, physiological development, and cellular activity. With recent advances, most notably the human genome project (which completed the sequencing of all three billion human nucleotides and continues to identify human genes and their functions; Lander et al. 2001), molecular genetics has become a useful tool for describing higher-order human biological processes including disease, nutrition, behavior, and psychology. Personality and individual differences can now be linked with differences in heritable genetic factors, opening the door to new research avenues in developmental, clinical, and evolutionary psychology.

The Gene

Genes...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Austin Jeffery

Authors
  1. Austin Jeffery
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Correspondence to Austin Jeffery .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Julie Schermer

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Jeffery, A. (2017). Molecular Genetics. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_777-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_777-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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