Final answer:
Paralogous genes are related through gene duplication and subsequent divergence. They share a high degree of sequence similarity but have acquired different functions. An example of paralogous genes is the beta-globin gene and the alpha-globin gene in humans.
Step-by-step explanation:
In biology, when we say two genes are paralogous, it means that they are related through gene duplication. Paralogous genes are genes that have evolved from a common ancestral gene by duplication and subsequent divergence. These genes share a high degree of sequence similarity but have acquired different functions over evolutionary time. An example of paralogous genes is the hemoglobin genes in humans: the beta-globin gene and the alpha-globin gene.