Science Terms

Science Terms - a tumblr science dictionary -about us -submit your science terms Feel free to ask us any questions you have about a term, and let us know if we've made a mistake somewhere.

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Placebo effect

An effect usually, but not necessarily, beneficial that is attributable to an expectation that the regimen will have an effect.

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Transferrin

Serum beta-globulin that binds and transports iron.

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Cystic fribosis

Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive genetic disease of the exocrine glands. It is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator expressed in several organs including the lung, the pancreas, the biliary system and the sweat glands.

Cystic fibrosis is characterized by epithelial secretory dysfunction associated with ductal obstruction resulting in airway obstruction; chronic respiratory infections; pancreatic insufficiency; maldigestion; salt depletion; and heat prostration.

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Pneumonia

Inflammation of any part, segment or lobe, of the lung parenchyma.

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Cytosol

Intracellular fluid from the cytoplasm after removal of organelles and other insoluble cytoplasmic components.

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Calorie

The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clement in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule. 

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Transduction (genetics)

  the process by which DNA is transferred from one bacterium to another by a virus. It also refers to the process whereby foreign DNA is introduced into another cell via a viral vector. This is a common tool used by molecular biologists to stably introduce a foreign gene into a host cell's genome. 

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Southern blot

a method routinely used in molecular biology for detection of a specific DNA sequence in DNA samples. Southern blotting combines transfer of electrophoresis-separated DNA fragments to a filter membrane and subsequent fragment detection by probe hybridization 

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Ionic Bond

a type of chemical bond formed through an electrostatic attraction between two oppositely charged ions. Ionic bonds are formed between a cation, which is usually a metal, and an anion, which is usually a nonmetal. Pure ionic bonding cannot exist: all ionic compounds have some degree of covalent bonding

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Genetic Isolate

A population of organisms that has little genetic mixing with other organisms within the same species. This may result in speciation, but this is not necessarily the case

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B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

the most common type of leukemia. Leukemias are cancers of the white blood cells (leukocytes). CLL affects B cell lymphocytes. B cells originate in the bone marrow, develop in the lymph nodes, and normally fight infection by producing antibodies. In CLL, the DNA of a B cell is damaged, so that it cannot produce antibodies

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Anabolism

is the set of metabolic pathways that construct molecules from smaller units. These reactions require energy.

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Catabolism

 is the set of pathways that break down molecules into smaller units and release energy

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Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH)

A type of in situ hybridization in which target sequences are stained with fluorescent dye so their location and size can be determined using fluorescence microscopy. This staining is sufficiently distinct that the hybridization signal can be seen both in metaphase spreads and in interphase nuclei.

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Chromosome

In a prokaryotic cell or in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell, a structure consisting of or containing DNA which carries the genetic information essential to the cell.

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Genes

Specific sequences of nucleotides along a molecule of DNA (or, in the case of some viruses, RNA) which represent functional units of heredity. Most eukaryotic genes contain a set of coding regions (EXONS) that are spliced together in the transcript, after removal of intervening sequence (INTRONS) and are therefore labelled split genes.