From the base to the population — and what a test result actually says.
Practise this list
From these 43 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
The fourteenth entry is la double hélice, and the noun inside it does a job in French that « helix » has never been asked to do in English. Our word is a curve and nothing else. It is the shape of a spring, the outer rim of the ear that an anatomist calls the helix, and the coil a chemist draws for a protein. Outside those it is not used at all, and no mechanic has ever said it. L’hélice covers the curve too, and then walks straight into the workshop. It is the propeller of a ship, l’hélice du bateau. It is the propeller of an aircraft, so that un avion à hélices is a propeller plane and le pas de l’hélice is its pitch. A spiral staircase can be un escalier en hélice. A sentence carrying hélice is therefore about a blade far more often than about a curve, and the safe reflex is to look for water or air before reaching for « helix ». On this page the rare reading is the right one, which is what the adjective is doing there: double announces the molecule and rules the boat out.
la variante alléliquethe allelic variantNoun (f)C2
Une seule variante allélique suffit à changer le résultat.A single allelic variant is enough to change the outcome.
la réplication de l’ADNthe replication of DNANoun (f)C2
La réplication de l’ADN précède chaque division.The replication of DNA comes before every division.
l’ADN polymérasethe DNA polymeraseNoun (f)C2
L’ADN polymérase avance le long du brin.The DNA polymerase moves along the strand.
l’enzymethe enzymeNoun (f)C2
Cette enzyme coupe le brin à un endroit précis.This enzyme cuts the strand at one exact place.
la transcription en ARNthe transcription into RNANoun (f)C2
La transcription en ARN commence au début du gène.Transcription into RNA begins at the start of the gene.
la méthylationthe methylationNoun (f)C2
La méthylation éteint le gène sans toucher à la séquence.Methylation switches the gene off without touching the sequence.
la délétionthe deletionNoun (f)C2
La délétion emporte un morceau entier du brin.A deletion carries off a whole piece of the strand.
l’insertion de basesthe insertion of basesNoun (f)C2
L’insertion de bases allonge le passage lu.The insertion of bases lengthens the stretch that is read.
la lignée germinalethe germ lineNoun (f)C2
Une modification de la lignée germinale passe aux enfants.A change to the germ line passes to the children.
l’héritabilité d’un caractèrethe heritability of a traitNoun (f)C2
L’héritabilité d’un caractère se mesure dans une population, pas chez une personne.The heritability of a trait is measured in a population, not in one person.
la consanguinitéthe inbreedingNoun (f)C2
La consanguinité fait remonter les variantes rares.Inbreeding brings rare variants back to the surface.
la formation d’une espèce nouvellethe speciationNoun (f)C2
La formation d’une espèce nouvelle demande une longue séparation.Speciation calls for a long separation.
