Glossary

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Homology

Uniformity or similarity between biological structures

In biology, homology (from the Greek homos = equal) is used generally to refer to similarity between species or between individuals, including similarities in appearance, behaviour and genetic information. The more similar different organisms are, the more closely they are related.

In molecular biology and genetic engineering, homologous DNA sequences, i.e. identical sequences of bases, are important. For instance, where there are identical DNA sections in the plant genome it is possible to insert genes or DNA sequences (homologous recombination).