Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A gene found in Drosophila, its homolog of the dynamin gene.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: biology, genetics, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Japanese しびれ (shibire, “numbness, paralyzed”). Coined by Japanese-Canadian geneticist and zoologist David Suzuki, its discoverer. Originally discovered in its temperature sensitive form, shibire(ts), which caused the afflicted flies to drop from the sky on a temperature change, appearing to be a gene causing paralysis. Suzuki, referencing his Japanese heritage, chose a Japanese term for being paralyzed as the gene's name.
