Biotechnology and Genetics terms starting with U

30 terms

  1. U Abbreviation for uracil.
  2. U.S. Department of Agriculture The U.S. agency responsible for regulation of biotechnology products in plants and animals.
  3. ubiquitin A small protein, present in all eukaryotic cells, which plays an important role in tagging proteins destined for proteolytic cleavage (because they are…
  4. ultrasonication See: sonication.
  5. Umbilical cord blood stem cells stem cells collected from the umbilical cord at birth that can produce all of the blood cells in the body (hematopoietic).
  6. Umbilical cord stem cells Hematopoietic stem cells are present in the blood of the umbilical cord during and shortly after delivery.
  7. UMP Abbreviation for the (ribo)nucleotide uridine 5'-monophosphate. See: uridylic acid.
  8. understock Host plant for a grafted scion, a branch or shoot from another plant; an understock may be a fully grown tree or a stump with a living root system.
  9. Undifferentiated A term used to describe cells or tissues that do not have specialized ("mature") structures or functions.
  10. unencapsidated A virus not enclosed by a coat protein or capsid.
  11. unequal crossing over Abnormal meiotic event, in which one chromatid contains a duplication and the other a deletion.
  12. unicellular Tissues, organs or organisms consisting of a single cell.
  13. uniparental inheritance The inheritance of genes exclusively from one parent, e.g. chloroplast DNA is inherited either maternally (many angiosperms) or paternally (most…
  14. Unipotent Refers to a cell that can only develop in a specific way to produce a certain end result.
  15. Unipotent stem cells Stem cells that self-renew as well as give rise to a single mature cell type; e.g., spermatogenic stem cells.
  16. unisexual Higher organisms (animals or plants) possessing either male or female reproductive organs, but not both.
  17. univalent An unpaired chromosome at the first division of meiosis.
  18. universal donor cell Cells that, after introduction into a recipient, will not induce an immune response that leads to their rejection.
  19. universality Referring to the genetic code, the triplet codon s are translated to the same amino acid, with minor exceptions, in virtually all species.
  20. unorganized growth In vitro formation of tissues with few differentiated cell types and no recognizable structure; typical structure of calli formed in tissue culture.
  21. upstream The region extending in a 5' direction from a gene.
  22. upstream processing See: upstream (2).
  23. uracil (YOOR-uh-sil) One of four building blocks of ribonucleic acid (RNA), a type of nucleic acid found in all cells.
  24. uridine The (ribo)nucleoside resulting from the combination of the base uracil (U) and the sugar D-ribose. See: uridylic acid, uridine triphosphate.
  25. uridine triphosphate (uridine 5'-triphosphate) (Abbreviation: UTP). Required for RNA synthesis since it is a direct precursor molecule. See: uridylic acid.
  26. uridylic acid Synonym for uridine 5'-monophosphate (abbreviation: UMP), a (ribo)nucleotide containing the base uracil. See: uridine triphosphate.
  27. USDA See The U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  28. Uterine Pertaining to the uterus.
  29. utilization of farm animal genetic resources The use and development of animal genetic resources for the production of food in a sustainable system of agriculture.
  30. UTP See: uridine triphosphate.