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Forward Genetics is an approach that encompasses several means of identifying the gene or set of genes that are responsible for a particular phenotype within an organism. Initially, this entailed the generation of random mutations in an organism, often through radiation, and then through a series of breeding of subsequent generations, isolating individuals with an aberrant phenotype, though there are today many different means of following the general path of altering the genotype to witness the phenotype, several which within the genomic era can be useful in study of [functional genomics]. Forward genetics can be thought of as a counter to reverse genetics, which seeks to alter genes in order to illuminate their multiple phenotypes.