somatic crossing-over

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somatic crossing-over In genetics, crossing-over during mitosis of somatic cells such that parent cells heterozygous for a given allele, instead of giving rise to 2 identical heterozygous daughter cells, give rise to daughter cells one of which is homozygous for one of these alleles, the other being homozygous for the other allele. Phenotypically differing cell-lines may result. Studies of somatic crossing-over, somatic assortment, and cell fusion make up somatic-cell genetics, a modern asexual genetic technique that allows a wide range of in vitro manipulation of higher cells, including human cells as well as those of other organisms.

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