key term - Regulatory Elements

Definition

Regulatory elements are regions of DNA that can bind regulatory proteins to control gene expression, essentially turning genes on or off.

Related terms

Promoter Region: A specific DNA sequence where RNA polymerase attaches and starts transcription.

Enhancer Region: A segment of DNA that can bind proteins to increase the likelihood of transcription of a particular gene.

Silencer Region: A piece of DNA that binds repressor proteins to decrease or prevent transcription from occurring at certain genes.