Genome

The genome of an organism is the whole of its hereditary information encoded in its DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). This includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA. Professor Hans Winkler coined the term in 1920.^[1]

Winkler's definition, in translation, runs:

"I propose the expression genome for the haploid chromosome set, which, together with the pertinent protoplasm, specifies the material foundations of the species ...." ^[2]p165

However, no single haploid chromosome set defines even the DNA of a species. Because of the huge variety of alleles carried by a population, every individual is genetically different. Even a diploid individual carries genetic variety. For that reason Dobzhansky preferred "set of chromosomes",^[3] and the definition now must be broader than Winklers' definition. The genome of a haploid chromosome set is merely a sample of the total genetic variety of a species.

The term 'genome' can be applied specifically to mean the complete set of nuclear DNA (the 'nuclear genome') but can also be used of organelles that contain their own DNA, as with the mitochondrial genome or the chloroplast genome.

1. ↑ Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany, as a combination of the words gene and chromosome.Joshua Lederberg and Alexa T. McCray (2001). "'Ome Sweet 'Omics -- A genealogical treasury of words". The Scientist. 15 (7).

   An online copy is available here: [1] Archived 2006-09-29 at the Wayback Machine

2. ↑ Winkler H. 1920. Verbreitung und Ursache der Parthenogenesis im Pflanzen- und Tierreiche. Fischer, Jena.
3. ↑ Dobzhansky T. 1937. Genetics and the origin of species. Columbia N.Y.