Biotechnology and Genetics — page 24 of 40

3,925 terms including subtopics (0 terms filed directly here)

Subtopics

Biotechnology and Genetics terms

  1. mid-parent value The average of the phenotypic measure, with respect to a given trait, of the two parents used to generate the population being analysed.
  2. middle lamella A thin exclusively plant membrane separating two adjacent protoplasts and remaining as a distinct cementing layer between adjacent cell walls.
  3. mineralization The conversion of organic compounds into inorganic (mineral) ones. For example, the conversion of ethanol into carbon dioxide and water.
  4. mini-prep A small-scale preparation of plasmid or phage DNA. Used to purify cloned DNA from the DNA of the vector.
  5. Minimal tillage practices Practices that allow farmers to reduce the tilling of the land to conserve topsoil and its nutrients.
  6. minimum effective cell density The cell density below which reproducible cell growth fails. The minimum density is determined by both the source function of the tissue (species…
  7. minimum inoculum size The critical volume of inoculum required to initiate culture growth, due to the diffusive loss of cell materials into the medium.
  8. minisatellite A form of variable number tandem repeats in which the repeat unit size ranges from 10-100 bp. Used for DNA fingerprinting following Southern hybridization.
  9. minituber Small tubers (5-15 mm in diameter) formed on shoot cultures or cuttings of tuber-forming crops, such as potato.
  10. mismatch The occurrence of a non-complementary pairs of bases in a double helix of DNA, e.g. A:C, G:T.
  11. mismatch repair A DNA repair process that corrects mismatched base pairs.
  12. missense mutation A mutation that changes a codon for one amino acid into a codon specifying another amino acid.
  13. mist propagation Application of fine droplets of water to maintain humidity around plantlets or cuttings, which have not yet developed effective roots.
  14. mite Free-living and parasitic arachnids. Infestation of plant crops reduces yield through the destruction of leaf tissue.
  15. Mitochondria (MY-toh-KON-dree-uh) Small structures in a cell that are found in the cytoplasm (fluid that surrounds the cell nucleus).
  16. Mitochondrial DNA (Abbreviation: mtDNA). A circular DNA found in mitochondria. In mammals, mtDNA makes up less than 1% of the total DNA, but in plants the amount is…
  17. Mitochondrial proteins Proteins that are part of the mitochondria.
  18. mitochondrion (pl.: mitochondria) Organelle possessing its own DNA which appear in all eukaryotic cells (and never in prokaryotic cells) and produce adenosine…
  19. mitogen A substance that can cause cells to initiate mitosis.
  20. Mitosis (my-TOH-sis) The process by which a single parent cell divides to make two new daughter cells.
  21. mixed bud A bud containing both rudimentary leaves and flowers.
  22. mixoploid Groups of cells with variable (a mix of euploid, aneuploid, polyploid ) chromosome numbers.
  23. mobilization 1. The transfer between bacteria of a non-conjugative plasmid by a conjugative plasmid. 2.
  24. mobilizing function The genes on a plasmid that give it the ability to facilitate the transfer of either a non-conjugative or a conjugative plasmid from one bacterium to…
  25. mode In a frequency distribution, the class having the greatest frequency.
  26. model See Exhibit.
  27. Model organisms A laboratory animal or other organism useful for research.
  28. Modeling The use of statistical analysis, computer analysis, or model organisms to predict outcomes of research.
  29. modern biotechnology The application of: a. In vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA ) and direct injection of nucleic acid into…
  30. Modification Any change to the terms of a mortgage loan, including changes to the interest rate, loan balance, or loan term.
  31. modifying gene A gene that affects the expression of some other gene.
  32. MOET Abbreviation for multiple ovulation and embryo transfer.
  33. Molecular biology The study of the biochemical and mo- lecular interactions within living cells.
  34. molecular chaperone See: chaperone.
  35. Molecular cloning The biological amplification of a specific DNA sequence through mitotic division of a host cell into which it has been transformed or transfected.
  36. Molecular farming The development of transgenic animals to produce human proteins for medical use.
  37. Molecular genetics The study of the flow and regulation of genetic information between DNA, RNA, and protein molecules.
  38. molecular marker (muh-LEH-kyoo-ler ...) A biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or of a…
  39. Molecular medicine (muh-LEH-kyoo-ler MEH-dih-sin) A branch of medicine that develops ways to diagnose and treat disease by understanding the way genes, proteins, and other…
  40. molecular pharming See: biopharming.
  41. Molecule The smallest particle of a substance that has all of the physical and chemical properties of that substance. Molecules are made up of one or more atoms.
  42. mono-unsaturates Oils containing mono-unsaturated fatty acids (i.e. where one -CH2-CH2- group in the hydrocarbon chain is replaced by -CH=CH-).
  43. Monoclonal From a single cell.
  44. Monoclonal antibodies Immunoglobulin molecules of single- epitope specificity that are secreted by a clone of B cells.
  45. monoclonal antibody (MAH-noh-KLOH-nul AN-tih-BAH-dee) A type of protein made in the laboratory that can locate and bind to substances in the body, including tumor cells.
  46. Monoclonal antibody (MoAb) An exceptionally pure and specific antibody derived from hybridoma cells. Because each of the clones is derived from a single B cell, all of the antibody…
  47. monocot Abbreviation for monocotyledon.
  48. monocotyledon (Abbreviation: monocot). A flowering plant whose embryo has one cotyledon. Examples are cereals (corn, wheat, rice etc.), banana, and lily.
  49. Monoculture The agricultural practice of cultivating crops consisting of genetically similar organisms.
  50. Monocyte A type of white blood cell.
  51. monoecious A plant species that has separate male and female flowers on the same plant (e.g. maize).
  52. monogastric animal A non-ruminant animal with a simple stomach.
  53. Monogenic Controlled by or associated with a single gene.
  54. Monogenic disorder A disorder caused by mutation of a single gene. See also: mutation, polygenic disorder
  55. Monogenic inheritance See: monogenic disorder
  56. monohybrid cross A cross between parents differing in only one trait or in which only one trait is being considered.
  57. monohybrid Heterozygous with respect to one gene.
  58. monokine Generic name for proteins that are released by monocytes to act on other cells involved in the immune response. A sub-class of cytokines.
  59. monolayer A single layer of cells growing on a surface.
  60. monolignols The building blocks of lignin that undergo polymerization.
  61. monomer (MAH-nuh-mer) A molecule that can join with other identical monomers to form a larger structure called a polymer.
  62. monomorphic Absence of variation for a marker, gene, chromosome, or genetically determined trait in a population.
  63. Mononucleocyte A cell containing a single nucleus. Generally refers to a white blood cell.
  64. monophyletic A group of organisms that are assumed to have originated from the same ancestor.
  65. monoploid See: haploid.
  66. monosaccharide A simple sugar (e.g. glucose, fructose). See:.
  67. monosomic A form of aneuploidy in which a diploid organism lacks one member of a homologous chromosome pair.
  68. Monosomy Possessing only one copy of a particular chromosome instead of the normal two copies. See also cell, chromosome, trisomy
  69. monozygotic twin One of a pair of twins derived from a single fertilized egg. Synonym: identical twin.
  70. Morbid map A diagram showing the chromosomal location of genes associated with disease.
  71. morphogen A substance that stimulates the development of form or structure in an organism.
  72. morphogenesis The development, through growth and differentiation, of form and structure in an organism.
  73. morphogenic response The effect on the developmental history of a plant or its parts exposed to a given set of growth conditions or to a change in the environment.
  74. Morphology (mor-FAH-loh-jee) The science of the form and structure of organisms (plants, animals, and other forms of life).
  75. Morula A solid mass of cells that resembles a mulberry and result from the cleavage of an ovum.
  76. Mosaic A web browser popular before the introduction of Netscape and Internet Explorer.
  77. mother plant See: donor plant.
  78. MOTIF A conserved sequence of nucleotides or amino acids that can be associated with some function of, respectively, a length of DNA or a protein.
  79. Mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) Mouse embryonic fibroblast cells are used as feeder cells when culturing pluripotent stem cells.
  80. mouse model The use of special strains of mice to study a human disease or condition, and how to prevent and treat it.
  81. Movable genetic element (See Transposon.)
  82. mRNA See Messenger RNA.
  83. MRU Abbreviation for minimum recognition units. See: dAb.
  84. mtDNA Abbreviation for mitochondrial DNA.
  85. multi-copy Describing plasmids which replicate to produce many copies per host bacterial cell.
  86. Multi-locus probe A probe that hybridizes to a number of different sites in the genome of an organism. (See Probe.)
  87. Multifactorial or multigenic disorder See: polygenic disorder
  88. multigene family A set of genes (not necessarily mapping to the same genomic location) that are related in nucleotide sequence and/or that produce polypeptides with…
  89. multigenic Trait controlled by several genes, as opposed to monogenic. Synonym: polygenic.
  90. multimer A protein made up of more than one polypeptide chain.
  91. multiple alleles The existence of more than two alleles at a locus in a population.
  92. multiple arbitrary amplicon profiling A collective term for a number of related polymerase chain reaction techniques, all of which use arbitrary primers, and which generate a number of…
  93. multiple cloning site (Abbreviation: MCS). See: polylinker.
  94. multiple drop array (Abbreviation: MDA). See: microdroplet array.
  95. multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 1 (MEN1) A rare inherited disorder that affects the endocrine glands, which release hormones into the bloodstream.
  96. multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (Abbreviation: MOET). A technology by which a single female that usually produces only one or two offspring can produce a litter of offspring.
  97. multiplex 1. The simultaneous amplification of a number of amplicons in a single polymerase chain reaction, achieved by including more than one set of primers in…
  98. Multiplexing A laboratory approach that performs multiple sets of reactions in parallel (simultaneously); greatly increasing speed and throughput.
  99. Multipotent As applied to stem cells, the ability to differentiate into at least two, more differentiated descendant cells.
  100. Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells (MAPC) Cells isolated from bone marrow that can be differentiated into cells with characteristics of cartilage, fat, and bone.