gene family

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gene family A group of similar or identical genes, usually along the same chromosome, that originate by gene duplication of a single original gene. Some members of the family may work in concert, others may be silenced and become pseudogenes. For example, each of the α- and β-haemoglobin families of humans includes members that duplicate each other's functions, act at different stages of the life cycle, or may have lost their function altogether.

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