Monogenic
A trait controlled by a single gene, often with a clear inheritance pattern.
📖 Full definition
A monogenic trait depends on a single gene and generally follows Mendel's laws (dominance, recessivity). Many rare diseases (cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell) are monogenic. Most visible traits (face, height) are by contrast polygenic.
💡 Concrete example
Eye colour was long described as monogenic. It is now known to involve 16+ genes — so really polygenic.
🔄 Synonyms
mendelian
🔗 See also
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