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Definition

noun, plural: centimorgans

A unit of recombination frequency, implying distance along a chromosome.

Supplement

One centimorgan (cM) is equivalent to a 1% chance that a marker at one genetic locus will be separated from a marker at a second locus due to crossover per generation.

In humans, 1 cM is equivalent to (on average) 1 million base pairs.

Word origin: named after geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan by his student Alfred Henry Sturtevant.

Abbreviation: cM
See also: genetic map.