Final answer:
Polymorphism refers to the ability of an object to take on many forms or have multiple behaviors. It is a concept used in programming to allow objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. In biology, polymorphism relates to the occurrence of multiple forms of a gene or trait in a population.
Step-by-step explanation:
Polymorphism refers to the ability of an object to take on many forms or have multiple behaviors. In programming, this concept allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass, enabling code reuse and flexibility. For example, a superclass Animal can have subclasses like Dog, Cat, and Bird, and they can all be treated as objects of the Animal class. This allows for more generic code and polymorphic behavior.
In biology, polymorphism relates to the occurrence of multiple forms of a gene or trait in a population. This variation arises from having multiple alleles, or alternative forms of a gene, at a specific locus. A classic example is Mendel's pea plants, where flower color can be either purple or white, representing a polymorphism in the color trait.