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1. Inlaid; resembling inlaid work. 2. The juxtaposition in an organism of genetically different tissues; it may occur normally (as in lyonization, q.v.), or pathologically, as an occasional phenomenon. From somatic mutation (gene mosaicism), an anomaly of chromosome division resulting in two or more types of cells containing different numbers of chromosomes (chromosome mosaicism), or chimerism (cellular mosaicism). [Mod. L. mosaicus, musaicus, pertaining to the Muses, artistic]
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mo·sa·ic mō-'zā-ik n an organism or one of its parts composed of cells of more than one genotype: CHIMERA
mosaic adj
1) exhibiting mosaicism
2) DETERMINATE
mo·sa·i·cal·ly -'zā-ə-k(ə-)lē adv
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mo·sa·ic (mo-zaґik) [Gr. mouseion, from mousa, Muse] 1. a pattern made of numerous small pieces fitted together. 2. in genetics, an individual composed of two or more cell lines that are karyotypically or genotypically distinct but are derived from a single zygote. Cf. chimera. 3. in embryology, the condition in the fertilized eggs of some species, such as the sea urchin, whereby the cells of early stages have developed cytoplasm which determines the parts that are to develop. 4. in plant pathology, a viral disease characterized by mottling of the foliage.Medical dictionary. 2011.