Definition of "missense" [missense]

• Of or relating to a mutation that changes a codon for one amino acid into a codon for a different amino acid. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Genetic diseases are often caused by a specific type of genetic alteration called a missense mutation that makes cells add an incorrect amino acid into the protein chain."
• "DDS: These individuals carry specific alterations known as missense mutations, mostly in exons 8 or 9 of one working copy of the WT1 gene."
• "Three of these resulted in missense mutations in mitochondrially encoded NADH dehydrogenases 1, 2 and 4, and one caused a nonsense mutation in ATPase 6."