Principles of Forensic DNA
for Officers of the Court
Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court
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Module 2 :: Biology of DNA

Topic 1 :: Biological Terminology

Heterozygous versus Homozygous

A person's pair of alleles at a particular locus (genotype) is either homozygous or heterozygous.

If a person has two alleles at a locus that are indistinguishable, the person is homozygous at that genetic location.

Likewise, if two alleles are different at one locus, the person is heterozygous at that genetic location.

Click here to view an animation on genotypes.

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