fusions

Genetic rearrangements, typically created in vitro, in which two distinct regions are deliberately placed next to each other. This might be a case where a promoter from one gene is placed upstream of another gene, especially where the product of the latter gene is easily assayed. In that case, the activity of the gene product indicates the functionality of the promoter. Alternatively, portions of two different genes can be fused to create a protein that is a chimera with portions of both of the original gene products.