indel

Science & Engineering abbreviation · Genetics

indel
Stands forInsertion-deletion
CategoriesScience & Engineering

indel stands for Insertion-deletion, a genetics abbreviation.

Genetic variant in which bases are inserted into or deleted from DNA, typically 1 to 50 base pairs. Indels in coding regions cause frameshifts unless their length is a multiple of three, which usually destroys the protein.

Example: CRISPR editing produced small indels at the cut site, disrupting the reading frame.

Usage notes

The most common cystic fibrosis mutation, often called delta F508, is a three-base deletion that removes one amino acid without shifting the frame. Indels are the second most common type of variant in human genomes after single-nucleotide changes. The word is used as a noun and is usually written in lowercase.

More genetics abbreviations

  • GC – Guanine-cytosine (content)
  • gDNA – Genomic DNA
  • GWAS – Genome-wide association study
  • HDR – Homology-directed repair
  • HGP – Human Genome Project
  • HWE – Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
  • kb – Kilobase
  • LD – Linkage disequilibrium
  • lncRNA – Long non-coding RNA
  • LOD – Logarithm of the odds (score)
  • MAF – Minor allele frequency
  • Mb – Megabase

See all 57 genetics abbreviations →