indel
Pronunciation: IN-del
A small insertion or deletion of nucleotides at a genomic locus, typically resulting from error-prone NHEJ repair after a CRISPR-induced double-strand break. Written in lowercase.
Full Definition
An indel is a collective term for a nucleotide insertion or deletion introduced into a DNA sequence, most commonly as a by-product of NHEJ-mediated repair of a Cas-induced double-strand break. Indels within coding sequences frequently cause frameshifts that disrupt protein function, making them a key readout in gene-knockout experiments. Editors should write 'indel' in lowercase (not 'InDel' or 'INDEL') and use 'indels' for the plural. The term is often paired with quantitative data (e.g., 'indel frequency of 45%') and should not be conflated with point mutations or larger structural variants.
Usage
Usage note: Lowercase throughout: 'indel', 'indels'. Not to be confused with SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms), which involve substitutions rather than insertions or deletions.
In Context
- "The indel spectrum at the cut site was characterised by 1-bp insertions in the majority of alleles." — Results section
- "Authors inconsistently wrote 'InDel' and 'INDEL'; all instances were standardised to 'indel'." — Copy-editing note