Allele
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An allele is one of the variant forms of a gene. They can produce variation in inherited characteristics such as hair color or blood type. However, most alleles don't have any effects. Individuals that are homozygous for an allele contain the same two copies, individuals that are heterozygous contain two different alleles for a gene.
In the case of simple inheritance, one form of the allele (the dominant gene) may be expressed more than another form (the recessive gene) in heterozygous individuals.