Terms to watch out for

heterozygous: term used to describe alleles that are different at a particular locus within an organism

homozygous: term used to describe alleles that are the same at a particular locus within an organism

See AIDS, HIV

See hone, home

See analogue, homologue, homeologue

homogeneous: composed of parts that are all of the same kind; not heterogeneous

homogenous: corresponding in structure because of a common origin (usually replaced by homologous)

See homogeneous, homogenous

See analogue, homologue, homeologue

See convergence, homology, vestigiality

See heterozygous, homozygous

hone: to sharpen, to make more accurate, to improve through practice (e.g. to hone one’s skills)

home (as a verb): to return home

home in: to proceed towards a target

Hone is commonly confused with home in the phrase home in. It is not possible to hone in on a target.

See cultivar, hybrid, variety, plant variety

hypothesis: a tentative explanation for an observation or phenomenon that can be tested by further investigation. See also null hypothesis

theory: a hypothesis (or set of hypotheses) that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted. It often contains some explanatory content and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena (e.g. Darwin’s theory of evolution, Newton’s theory of gravitation, Einstein’s theory of general relativity, the microorganism theory of infectious disease)

law: a principle presented as a bold statement that explains observations and has such good predictive power that it has been accepted to be universally true (e.g. Newton’s laws of motion). A law is different from a theory because it provides information on what will happen, not why it happens. Principle and law have similar meanings in this context, although a principle may have more explanatory content