phenocopy

noun

1. A phenotypic variation (in an organism) that resembles a phenotype from a genetic cause but has an environmental rather than genetic cause (and thus is not inherited).

verb

1. To copy a genetic variation through environmental manipulation.

   “The wg- mutant can be phenocopied by injecting antisense RNA (complementary to the 3 kb wg+ transcript) into wild-type embryos.”