Glossary of biology, the Glossary

Table of Contents

1. 568 relations: Absorption (skin), Acclimatization, Acetyl group, Acetyl-CoA, Adaptation, Adenine, Adenosine diphosphate, Adenosine triphosphate, Adhesion, Adrenal gland, Aerobic organism, Agnatha, Allele, Allele frequency, Allosteric regulation, Amine, Amino acid, Ammonia, Amphibian, Anaerobic organism, Anaerobic respiration, Ancestor, Animal, Animal breeding, Annelid, Antibiotic, Antibody, Antigen, Applied mathematics, Archaea, Archosaur, Arthropod, Asexual reproduction, Astrobiology, ATP synthase, Autoimmunity, Autotroph, Axon, B cell, Bacteria, Bacteriophage, Barr body, Basal body, Base pair, Behavioral ecology, Behavioral neuroscience, Bilayer, Bile, Binomial nomenclature, Biocatalysis, ... Expand index (518 more) »

2. Glossaries of biology
3. Glossaries of science

Absorption (skin)

Skin absorption is a route by which substances can enter the body through the skin.

See Glossary of biology and Absorption (skin)

Acclimatization

Acclimatization or acclimatisation (also called acclimation or acclimatation) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as a change in altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), allowing it to maintain fitness across a range of environmental conditions.

See Glossary of biology and Acclimatization

Acetyl group

In organic chemistry, acetyl is a functional group with the chemical formula and the structure.

See Glossary of biology and Acetyl group

Acetyl-CoA

Acetyl-CoA (acetyl coenzyme A) is a molecule that participates in many biochemical reactions in protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

See Glossary of biology and Acetyl-CoA

Adaptation

In biology, adaptation has three related meanings.

See Glossary of biology and Adaptation

Adenine

Adenine (symbol A or Ade) is a purine nucleobase.

See Glossary of biology and Adenine

Adenosine diphosphate

Adenosine diphosphate (ADP), also known as adenosine pyrophosphate (APP), is an important organic compound in metabolism and is essential to the flow of energy in living cells.

See Glossary of biology and Adenosine diphosphate

Adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleotide that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis.

See Glossary of biology and Adenosine triphosphate

Adhesion

Adhesion is the tendency of dissimilar particles or surfaces to cling to one another.

See Glossary of biology and Adhesion

Adrenal gland

The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol.

See Glossary of biology and Adrenal gland

Aerobic organism

An aerobic organism or aerobe is an organism that can survive and grow in an oxygenated environment.

See Glossary of biology and Aerobic organism

Agnatha

Agnatha is an infraphylum of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both living (cyclostomes) and extinct (conodonts, anaspids, and ostracoderms) species.

See Glossary of biology and Agnatha

Allele

An allele, or allelomorph, is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or locus, on a DNA molecule.

See Glossary of biology and Allele

Allele frequency

Allele frequency, or gene frequency, is the relative frequency of an allele (variant of a gene) at a particular locus in a population, expressed as a fraction or percentage.

See Glossary of biology and Allele frequency

Allosteric regulation

In the fields of biochemistry and pharmacology an allosteric regulator (or allosteric modulator) is a substance that binds to a site on an enzyme or receptor distinct from the active site, resulting in a conformational change that alters the protein's activity, either enhancing or inhibiting its function.

See Glossary of biology and Allosteric regulation

Amine

In chemistry, amines are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair.

See Glossary of biology and Amine

Amino acid

Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups.

See Glossary of biology and Amino acid

Ammonia

Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula.

See Glossary of biology and Ammonia

Amphibian

Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia.

See Glossary of biology and Amphibian

Anaerobic organism

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require molecular oxygen for growth.

See Glossary of biology and Anaerobic organism

Anaerobic respiration

Anaerobic respiration is respiration using electron acceptors other than molecular oxygen (O2).

See Glossary of biology and Anaerobic respiration

Ancestor

An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth).

See Glossary of biology and Ancestor

Animal

Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia.

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Animal breeding

Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation (using best linear unbiased prediction and other methods) of the genetic value (estimated breeding value, EBV) of livestock.

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Annelid

The annelids (Annelida, from Latin anellus, "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches.

See Glossary of biology and Annelid

Antibiotic

An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria.

See Glossary of biology and Antibiotic

Antibody

An antibody (Ab) is the secreted form of a B cell receptor; the term immunoglobulin (Ig) can refer to either the membrane-bound form or the secreted form of the B cell receptor, but they are, broadly speaking, the same protein, and so the terms are often treated as synonymous.

See Glossary of biology and Antibody

Antigen

In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule, moiety, foreign particulate matter, or an allergen, such as pollen, that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor.

See Glossary of biology and Antigen

Applied mathematics

Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry.

See Glossary of biology and Applied mathematics

Archaea

Archaea (archaeon) is a domain of single-celled organisms.

See Glossary of biology and Archaea

Archosaur

Archosauria or archosaurs is a clade of diapsid sauropsid tetrapods, with birds and crocodilians being the only extant representatives.

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Arthropod

Arthropods are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda.

See Glossary of biology and Arthropod

Asexual reproduction

Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes.

See Glossary of biology and Asexual reproduction

Astrobiology

Astrobiology is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe by investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events.

See Glossary of biology and Astrobiology

ATP synthase

ATP synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the formation of the energy storage molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) using adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi).

See Glossary of biology and ATP synthase

Autoimmunity

In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents.

See Glossary of biology and Autoimmunity

Autotroph

An autotroph is an organism that can convert abiotic sources of energy into energy stored in organic compounds, which can be used by other organisms.

See Glossary of biology and Autotroph

Axon

An axon (from Greek ἄξων áxōn, axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see spelling differences) is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action potentials away from the nerve cell body.

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B cell

B cells, also known as B lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell of the lymphocyte subtype.

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Bacteria

Bacteria (bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell.

See Glossary of biology and Bacteria

Bacteriophage

A bacteriophage, also known informally as a phage, is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea.

See Glossary of biology and Bacteriophage

Barr body

A Barr body (named after discoverer Murray Barr) or X-chromatin is an inactive X chromosome.

See Glossary of biology and Barr body

Basal body

A basal body (synonymous with basal granule, kinetosome, and in older cytological literature with blepharoplast) is a protein structure found at the base of a eukaryotic undulipodium (cilium or flagellum). The basal body was named by Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann in 1880. It is formed from a centriole and several additional protein structures, and is, essentially, a modified centriole.

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Base pair

A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds.

See Glossary of biology and Base pair

Behavioral ecology

Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures.

See Glossary of biology and Behavioral ecology

Behavioral neuroscience

Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology,, Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary is the application of the principles of biology to the study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and other animals.

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Bilayer

A bilayer is a double layer of closely packed atoms or molecules.

See Glossary of biology and Bilayer

Bile

Bile (from Latin bilis), or gall, is a yellow-green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine.

See Glossary of biology and Bile

Binomial nomenclature

In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages.

See Glossary of biology and Binomial nomenclature

Biocatalysis

Biocatalysis refers to the use of living (biological) systems or their parts to speed up (catalyze) chemical reactions.

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Biochemistry

Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms.

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Biodiversity

Biodiversity (or biological diversity) is the variety and variability of life on Earth.

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Bioenergetics

Bioenergetics is a field in biochemistry and cell biology that concerns energy flow through living systems.

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Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.

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Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field of science that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex.

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Biological activity

In pharmacology, biological activity or pharmacological activity describes the beneficial or adverse effects of a drug on living matter.

See Glossary of biology and Biological activity

Biological carbon fixation

Biological carbon fixation, or сarbon assimilation, is the process by which living organisms convert inorganic carbon (particularly carbon dioxide) to organic compounds.

See Glossary of biology and Biological carbon fixation

Biological engineering

Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products.

See Glossary of biology and Biological engineering

Biological life cycle

In biology, a biological life cycle (or just life cycle when the biological context is clear) is a series of stages of the life of an organism, that begins as a zygote, often in an egg, and concludes as an adult that reproduces, producing an offspring in the form of a new zygote which then itself goes through the same series of stages, the process repeating in a cyclic fashion.

See Glossary of biology and Biological life cycle

Biological organisation

Biological organisation is the organisation of complex biological structures and systems that define life using a reductionistic approach.

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Biology

Biology is the scientific study of life.

See Glossary of biology and Biology

Biomass

Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms.

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Biome

A biome is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life.

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Biomechanics

Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics.

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Biomedical engineering

Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes).

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Biomolecule

A biomolecule or biological molecule is loosely defined as a molecule produced by a living organism and essential to one or more typically biological processes.

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Biophysics

Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena.

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Biopolymer

Biopolymers are natural polymers produced by the cells of living organisms.

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Biosynthesis

Biosynthesis, i.e., chemical synthesis occuring in biological contexts, is a term most often referring to multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed processes where chemical substances absorbed as nutrients (or previously converted through biosynthesis) serve as enzyme substrates, with conversion by the living organism either into simpler or more complex products.

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Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services.

See Glossary of biology and Biotechnology

Bipedalism

Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs.

See Glossary of biology and Bipedalism

Bird

Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton.

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Birth

Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition.

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Birth defect

A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause.

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Blastocyst

The blastocyst is a structure formed in the early embryonic development of mammals.

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Blastulation

Blastulation is the stage in early animal embryonic development that produces the blastula.

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Blood

Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.

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Blood–brain barrier

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective semipermeable border of endothelial cells that regulates the transfer of solutes and chemicals between the circulatory system and the central nervous system, thus protecting the brain from harmful or unwanted substances in the blood.

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Body fluid

Body fluids, bodily fluids, or biofluids, sometimes body liquids, are liquids within the body of an organism.

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Botany

Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology.

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Brainstem

The brainstem (or brain stem) is the stalk-like part of the brain that connects the forebrain (the cerebrum and diencephalon) with the spinal cord.

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Calvin cycle

The Calvin cycle, light-independent reactions, bio synthetic phase, dark reactions, or photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle of photosynthesis is a series of chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen-carrier compounds into glucose.

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Cannabinoid

Cannabinoids are several structural classes of compounds found in the cannabis plant primarily and most animal organisms (although insects lack such receptors) or as synthetic compounds.

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Carbohydrate

A carbohydrate is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where m may or may not be different from n), which does not mean the H has covalent bonds with O (for example with, H has a covalent bond with C but not with O).

See Glossary of biology and Carbohydrate

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula.

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Carbonate

A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid,, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula.

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Carbonic acid

Carbonic acid is a chemical compound with the chemical formula.

See Glossary of biology and Carbonic acid

Carboxylic acid

In organic chemistry, a carboxylic acid is an organic acid that contains a carboxyl group attached to an R-group.

See Glossary of biology and Carboxylic acid

Carotenoid

Carotenoids are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi.

See Glossary of biology and Carotenoid

Catalase

Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms exposed to oxygen (such as bacteria, plants, and animals) which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen.

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Catalysis

Catalysis is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst.

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Cell (biology)

The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life.

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Cell biology

Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells.

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Cell cycle

The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the sequential series of events that take place in a cell that causes it to divide into two daughter cells.

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Cell division

Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two daughter cells.

See Glossary of biology and Cell division

Cell membrane

The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extracellular space).

See Glossary of biology and Cell membrane

Cell nucleus

The cell nucleus (nuclei) is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells.

See Glossary of biology and Cell nucleus

Cell plate

Phragmoplast and cell plate formation in a plant cell during cytokinesis. Left side: Phragmoplast forms and cell plate starts to assemble in the center of the cell. Towards the right: Phragmoplast enlarges in a donut-shape towards the outside of the cell, leaving behind mature cell plate in the center.

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Cell signaling

In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) is the process by which a cell interacts with itself, other cells, and the environment.

See Glossary of biology and Cell signaling

Cell theory

In biology, cell theory is a scientific theory first formulated in the mid-nineteenth century, that living organisms are made up of cells, that they are the basic structural/organizational unit of all organisms, and that all cells come from pre-existing cells.

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Cell wall

A cell wall is a structural layer that surrounds some cell types, found immediately outside the cell membrane.

See Glossary of biology and Cell wall

Cellular respiration

Cellular respiration is the process by which biological fuels are oxidized in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor, such as oxygen, to drive the bulk production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which contains energy.

See Glossary of biology and Cellular respiration

Central dogma of molecular biology

The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the flow of genetic information within a biological system.

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Centriole

In cell biology a centriole is a cylindrical organelle composed mainly of a protein called tubulin.

See Glossary of biology and Centriole

Centrosome

In cell biology, the centrosome (Latin centrum 'center' + Greek sōma 'body') (archaically cytocentre) is an organelle that serves as the main microtubule organizing center (MTOC) of the animal cell, as well as a regulator of cell-cycle progression.

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Chemical bond

A chemical bond is the association of atoms or ions to form molecules, crystals, and other structures.

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Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds.

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Chemical element

A chemical element is a chemical substance that cannot be broken down into other substances by chemical reactions.

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Chemical equilibrium

In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the reactants and products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable change in the properties of the system.

See Glossary of biology and Chemical equilibrium

Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as parentheses, dashes, brackets, commas and plus (+) and minus (−) signs.

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Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another.

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Chemical substance

A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.

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Chemistry

Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter.

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Chemosynthesis

In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon-containing molecules (usually carbon dioxide or methane) and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic compounds (e.g., hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide) or ferrous ions as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis.

See Glossary of biology and Chemosynthesis

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants.

See Glossary of biology and Chlorophyll

Chloroplast

A chloroplast is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells.

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Cholesterol

Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in animal fats and oils.

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Chondrichthyes

Chondrichthyes is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyans, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage.

See Glossary of biology and Chondrichthyes

Chromosomal crossover

Chromosomal crossover, or crossing over, is the exchange of genetic material during sexual reproduction between two homologous chromosomes' non-sister chromatids that results in recombinant chromosomes.

See Glossary of biology and Chromosomal crossover

Chromosome

A chromosome is a package of DNA with part or all of the genetic material of an organism.

See Glossary of biology and Chromosome

Cilium

The cilium (cilia;; in anatomy, cilium is an eyelash) is a membrane-bound organelle found on most types of eukaryotic cell.

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Circadian rhythm

A circadian rhythm, or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours.

See Glossary of biology and Circadian rhythm

Citric acid cycle

The citric acid cycle—also known as the Krebs cycle, Szent–Györgyi–Krebs cycle or the TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle)—is a series of biochemical reactions to release the energy stored in nutrients through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

See Glossary of biology and Citric acid cycle

Clade

In biological phylogenetics, a clade, also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a grouping of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree.

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Class (biology)

In biological classification, class (classis) is a taxonomic rank, as well as a taxonomic unit, a taxon, in that rank.

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Climate

Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years.

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Clonal selection

In immunology, clonal selection theory explains the functions of cells of the immune system (lymphocytes) in response to specific antigens invading the body.

See Glossary of biology and Clonal selection

Cloning

Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means.

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Cnidaria

Cnidaria is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in fresh water and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites.

See Glossary of biology and Cnidaria

Coelom

The coelom (or celom) is the main body cavity in many animals and is positioned inside the body to surround and contain the digestive tract and other organs.

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Cofactor (biochemistry)

A cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound or metallic ion that is required for an enzyme's role as a catalyst (a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction).

See Glossary of biology and Cofactor (biochemistry)

Colony (biology)

In biology, a colony is composed of two or more conspecific individuals living in close association with, or connected to, one another.

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Commensalism

Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed.

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Common descent

Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time.

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Comparative anatomy

Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species.

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Comparative biology

Comparative biology uses natural variation and disparity to understand the patterns of life at all levels—from genes to communities—and the critical role of organisms in ecosystems.

See Glossary of biology and Comparative biology

Comparative method

In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards to infer the properties of that ancestor.

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Comparative physiology

Comparative physiology is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms.

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Complementarity (molecular biology)

In molecular biology, complementarity describes a relationship between two structures each following the lock-and-key principle.

See Glossary of biology and Complementarity (molecular biology)

Conservation biology

Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions.

See Glossary of biology and Conservation biology

Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time.

See Glossary of biology and Convergent evolution

Countercurrent exchange

Countercurrent exchange is a mechanism occurring in nature and mimicked in industry and engineering, in which there is a crossover of some property, usually heat or some chemical, between two flowing bodies flowing in opposite directions to each other.

See Glossary of biology and Countercurrent exchange

Crista

A crista (cristae) is a fold in the inner membrane of a mitochondrion.

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Crustacean

Crustaceans are a group of arthropods that are a part of the subphylum Crustacea, a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthropods including decapods (shrimps, prawns, crabs, lobsters and crayfish), seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, opossum shrimps, amphipods and mantis shrimp.

See Glossary of biology and Crustacean

Cryobiology

Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science.

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Cryosphere

The cryosphere is an umbrella term for those portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form.

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Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria, also called Cyanobacteriota or Cyanophyta, are a phylum of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis.

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Cytoplasm

In cell biology, the cytoplasm describes all material within a eukaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, except for the cell nucleus.

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Cytosine

Cytosine (symbol C or Cyt) is one of the four nucleobases found in DNA and RNA, along with adenine, guanine, and thymine (uracil in RNA).

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Cytoskeleton

The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea.

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Cytosol

The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells (intracellular fluid (ICF)).

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Deciduous

In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit.

See Glossary of biology and Deciduous

Decomposer

Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi.

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Decomposition

Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts.

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Dehydration reaction

In chemistry, a dehydration reaction is a chemical reaction that involves the loss of water from the reacting molecule or ion.

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Denaturation (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, denaturation is a process in which proteins or nucleic acids lose folded structure present in their native state due to various factors, including application of some external stress or compound, such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), agitation and radiation, or heat.

See Glossary of biology and Denaturation (biochemistry)

Dendrite

A dendrite (from Greek δένδρον déndron, "tree") or dendron is a branched protoplasmic extension of a nerve cell that propagates the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the neuron from which the dendrites project.

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Denitrification

Denitrification is a microbially facilitated process where nitrate (NO3−) is reduced and ultimately produces molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products.

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Depolarization

In biology, depolarization or hypopolarization is a change within a cell, during which the cell undergoes a shift in electric charge distribution, resulting in less negative charge inside the cell compared to the outside.

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Desmosome

A desmosome ("binding body"), also known as a macula adherens (plural: maculae adherentes) (Latin for adhering spot), is a cell structure specialized for cell-to-cell adhesion.

See Glossary of biology and Desmosome

Detritivore

Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces).

See Glossary of biology and Detritivore

Developmental biology

Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop.

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Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus, often known simply as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels.

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Diazotroph

Diazotrophs are bacteria and archaea that fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere into bioavailable forms such as ammonia.

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Disease

A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury.

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Disease vector

In epidemiology, a disease vector is any living agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen such as a parasite or microbe, to another living organism.

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DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix.

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DNA replication

In molecular biology, DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule.

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DNA sequencing

DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA.

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DNA synthesis

DNA synthesis is the natural or artificial creation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules.

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Drug

A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect.

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Duodenum

The duodenum is the first section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds.

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Dynein

Dyneins are a family of cytoskeletal motor proteins that move along microtubules in cells.

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Earth science

Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth.

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Earthworm

An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida.

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Ecological efficiency

Ecological efficiency describes the efficiency with which energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.

See Glossary of biology and Ecological efficiency

Ecological niche

In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition.

See Glossary of biology and Ecological niche

Ecological pyramid

An ecological pyramid (also trophic pyramid, Eltonian pyramid, energy pyramid, or sometimes food pyramid) is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bioproductivity at each trophic level in an ecosystem.

See Glossary of biology and Ecological pyramid

Ecological succession

Ecological succession is the process of change in the species that make up an ecological community over time.

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Ecology

Ecology is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.

See Glossary of biology and Ecology

Ecophysiology

Ecophysiology (from Greek οἶκος, oikos, "house(hold)"; φύσις, physis, "nature, origin"; and -λογία, -logia), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions.

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Ecosystem

An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system that environments and their organisms form through their interaction.

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Ecotype

In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: οίκος.

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Ectoderm

The ectoderm is one of the three primary germ layers formed in early embryonic development.

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Ectotherm

An ectotherm (from the Greek ἐκτός "outside" and θερμός "heat"), more commonly referred to as a "cold-blooded animal", is an animal in which internal physiological sources of heat, such as blood, are of relatively small or of quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature.

See Glossary of biology and Ectotherm

Effector (biology)

In biology, an effector is a general term that can refer to several types of molecules or cells depending on the context: Small molecule effectors.

See Glossary of biology and Effector (biology)

Egg

An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the animal hatches.

See Glossary of biology and Egg

Electrochemical gradient

An electrochemical gradient is a gradient of electrochemical potential, usually for an ion that can move across a membrane.

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Electrochemical potential

In electrochemistry, the electrochemical potential (ECP),, is a thermodynamic measure of chemical potential that does not omit the energy contribution of electrostatics.

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Electron

The electron (or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge.

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Electron acceptor

An electron acceptor is a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound.

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Electron donor

In chemistry, an electron donor is a chemical entity that transfers electrons to another compound.

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Electron microscope

An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination.

See Glossary of biology and Electron microscope

Electron transport chain

An electron transport chain (ETC) is a series of protein complexes and other molecules which transfer electrons from electron donors to electron acceptors via redox reactions (both reduction and oxidation occurring simultaneously) and couples this electron transfer with the transfer of protons (H+ ions) across a membrane.

See Glossary of biology and Electron transport chain

Embryo

An embryo is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism.

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Embryology

Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, embryon, "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, -logia) is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and fetuses.

See Glossary of biology and Embryology

Emergence

In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when a complex entity has properties or behaviors that its parts do not have on their own, and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole.

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Endangered species

An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction.

See Glossary of biology and Endangered species

Endemism

Endemism is the state of a species only being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere.

See Glossary of biology and Endemism

Endergonic reaction

In chemical thermodynamics, an endergonic reaction (also called a heat absorbing nonspontaneous reaction or an unfavorable reaction) is a chemical reaction in which the standard change in free energy is positive, and an additional driving force is needed to perform this reaction.

See Glossary of biology and Endergonic reaction

Endocrine gland

Endocrine glands are ductless glands of the endocrine system that secrete their products, hormones, directly into the blood.

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Endocrine system

The endocrine system is a messenger system in an organism comprising feedback loops of hormones that are released by internal glands directly into the circulatory system and that target and regulate distant organs.

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Endocytosis

Endocytosis is a cellular process in which substances are brought into the cell.

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Endoderm

Endoderm is the innermost of the three primary germ layers in the very early embryo.

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Endogeny (biology)

Endogenous substances and processes are those that originate from within a living system such as an organism, tissue, or cell.

See Glossary of biology and Endogeny (biology)

Endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a part of a transportation system of the eukaryotic cell, and has many other important functions such as protein folding.

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Endosperm

The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization.

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Endotherm

An endotherm (from Greek ἔνδον endon "within" and θέρμη thermē "heat") is an organism that maintains its body at a metabolically favorable temperature, largely by the use of heat released by its internal bodily functions instead of relying almost purely on ambient heat.

See Glossary of biology and Endotherm

Energy

Energy is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat and light.

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Entomology

Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology.

See Glossary of biology and Entomology

Environmental science

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, meteorology, mathematics and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geography, and atmospheric science) to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.

See Glossary of biology and Environmental science

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions.

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Enzyme catalysis

Enzyme catalysis is the increase in the rate of a process by a biological molecule, an "enzyme".

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Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.

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Epidermis

The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis.

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Epigenetics

In biology, epigenetics is the study of heritable traits, or a stable change of cell function, that happen without changes to the DNA sequence.

See Glossary of biology and Epigenetics

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it.

See Glossary of biology and Epiphyte

Estrogen

Estrogen (oestrogen; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics.

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Ethology

Ethology is a branch of zoology that studies the behaviour of non-human animals.

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Eukaryote

The eukaryotes constitute the domain of Eukarya or Eukaryota, organisms whose cells have a membrane-bound nucleus.

See Glossary of biology and Eukaryote

Evolution

Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

See Glossary of biology and Evolution

Evolutionary biology

Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth.

See Glossary of biology and Evolutionary biology

Exocytosis

Exocytosis is a form of active transport and bulk transport in which a cell transports molecules (e.g., neurotransmitters and proteins) out of the cell (exo- + cytosis).

See Glossary of biology and Exocytosis

Exogeny

In a variety of contexts, exogeny or exogeneity is the fact of an action or object originating externally.

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Exponential growth

Exponential growth is a process that increases quantity over time at an ever-increasing rate.

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External fertilization

External fertilization is a mode of reproduction in which a male organism's sperm fertilizes a female organism's egg outside of the female's body.

See Glossary of biology and External fertilization

Extinction

Extinction is the termination of a taxon by the death of its last member.

See Glossary of biology and Extinction

Extranuclear inheritance or cytoplasmic inheritance is the transmission of genes that occur outside the nucleus.

See Glossary of biology and Extranuclear inheritance

Extraterrestrial life, alien life, or colloquially simply aliens, is life which does not originate from Earth.

See Glossary of biology and Extraterrestrial life

Facultative anaerobic organism

A facultative anaerobic organism is an organism that makes ATP by aerobic respiration if oxygen is present, but is capable of switching to fermentation if oxygen is absent.

See Glossary of biology and Facultative anaerobic organism

Family (biology)

Family (familia,: familiae) is one of the nine major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy.

See Glossary of biology and Family (biology)

Fatty acid

In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated.

See Glossary of biology and Fatty acid

Fermentation

Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substances through the action of enzymes.

See Glossary of biology and Fermentation

Fertilisation

Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a zygote and initiate its development into a new individual organism or offspring.

See Glossary of biology and Fertilisation

Fetus

A fetus or foetus (fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from a mammal embryo.

See Glossary of biology and Fetus

Fish

A fish (fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits.

See Glossary of biology and Fish

Fission (biology)

Fission, in biology, is the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts to separate entities resembling the original.

See Glossary of biology and Fission (biology)

Fitness (biology)

Fitness (often denoted w or ω in population genetics models) is a quantitative representation of individual reproductive success.

See Glossary of biology and Fitness (biology)

Fitness landscape

In evolutionary biology, fitness landscapes or adaptive landscapes (types of evolutionary landscapes) are used to visualize the relationship between genotypes and reproductive success.

See Glossary of biology and Fitness landscape

Flagellum

A flagellum (flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores (zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility.

See Glossary of biology and Flagellum

Flatworm

The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, platy, meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), helminth-, meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrates.

See Glossary of biology and Flatworm

Flavin adenine dinucleotide

In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) is a redox-active coenzyme associated with various proteins, which is involved with several enzymatic reactions in metabolism.

See Glossary of biology and Flavin adenine dinucleotide

Fluid

In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously move and deform (flow) under an applied shear stress, or external force.

See Glossary of biology and Fluid

Food chain

A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as earthworms and woodlice), or decomposer (such as fungi or bacteria).

See Glossary of biology and Food chain

Foramen

In anatomy and osteology, a foramen (foramina, or foramens) is an opening or enclosed gap within the dense connective tissue (bones and deep fasciae) of extant and extinct amniote animals, typically to allow passage of nerves, arteries, veins or other soft tissue structures (e.g. muscle tendon) from one body compartment to another.

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Fossil

A fossil (from Classical Latin) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age.

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Founder effect

In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population.

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Functional extinction

Functional extinction is the extinction of a species or other taxon such that.

See Glossary of biology and Functional extinction

Fungus

A fungus (fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.

See Glossary of biology and Fungus

G protein

G proteins, also known as guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, are a family of proteins that act as molecular switches inside cells, and are involved in transmitting signals from a variety of stimuli outside a cell to its interior.

See Glossary of biology and G protein

Gamete

A gamete (ultimately) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually.

See Glossary of biology and Gamete

Gastrointestinal tract

The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.

See Glossary of biology and Gastrointestinal tract

Gastropoda

Gastropods, commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda.

See Glossary of biology and Gastropoda

Gene

In biology, the word gene has two meanings.

See Glossary of biology and Gene

Gene expression

Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, and ultimately affect a phenotype.

See Glossary of biology and Gene expression

Gene flow

In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another.

See Glossary of biology and Gene flow

Gene pool

The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species.

See Glossary of biology and Gene pool

Genetic code

The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins.

See Glossary of biology and Genetic code

Genetic drift

Genetic drift, also known as random genetic drift, allelic drift or the Wright effect, refers to random fluctuations in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population.

See Glossary of biology and Genetic drift

Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology.

See Glossary of biology and Genetic engineering

Genetic linkage

Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction.

See Glossary of biology and Genetic linkage

Genetic variation

Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species.

See Glossary of biology and Genetic variation

Genetics

Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.

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Genome

In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism.

See Glossary of biology and Genome

Genotype

The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material.

See Glossary of biology and Genotype

Genus

Genus (genera) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses.

See Glossary of biology and Genus

Geography

Geography (from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία; combining 'Earth' and 'write') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth.

See Glossary of biology and Geography

Gibbs free energy

In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol G) is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of work, other than pressure-volume work, that may be performed by a thermodynamically closed system at constant temperature and pressure.

See Glossary of biology and Gibbs free energy

Gizzard

The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (birds and other dinosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, pterosaurs), earthworms, some gastropods, some fish, and some crustaceans.

See Glossary of biology and Gizzard

Gland

A gland is a cell or an organ in an animal's body that produces and secretes different substances either into the bloodstream or into a body cavity or outer surface that the organism needs.

See Glossary of biology and Gland

Glossary of bird terms

The following is a glossary of common English language terms used in the description of birds—warm-blooded vertebrates of the class Aves and the only living dinosaurs.

See Glossary of biology and Glossary of bird terms

Glossary of botanical terms

This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general.

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Glossary of cellular and molecular biology (0–L)

This glossary of cellular and molecular biology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts commonly used in the study of cell biology, molecular biology, and related disciplines, including genetics, biochemistry, and microbiology. Glossary of biology and glossary of cellular and molecular biology (0–L) are Glossaries of biology.

See Glossary of biology and Glossary of cellular and molecular biology (0–L)

Glossary of ecology

This glossary of ecology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts in ecology and related fields. Glossary of biology and glossary of ecology are Glossaries of biology.

See Glossary of biology and Glossary of ecology

Glossary of entomology terms

This glossary of entomology describes terms used in the formal study of insect species by entomologists.

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Glossary of environmental science

This is a glossary of environmental science. Glossary of biology and glossary of environmental science are Glossaries of science.

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Glossary of genetics and evolutionary biology

This glossary of genetics and evolutionary biology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the study of genetics and evolutionary biology, as well as sub-disciplines and related fields, with an emphasis on classical genetics, quantitative genetics, population biology, phylogenetics, speciation, and systematics. Glossary of biology and glossary of genetics and evolutionary biology are Glossaries of biology.

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Glossary of ichthyology

This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes.

See Glossary of biology and Glossary of ichthyology

Glossary of scientific naming

This is a list of terms and symbols used in scientific names for organisms, and in describing the names. Glossary of biology and Glossary of scientific naming are Glossaries of biology.

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Glossary of virology

This glossary of virology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in virology, the study of viruses, particularly in the description of viruses and their actions. Glossary of biology and glossary of virology are Glossaries of biology.

See Glossary of biology and Glossary of virology

Glucose

Glucose is a sugar with the molecular formula.

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Glycoprotein

Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide (sugar) chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains.

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Granulocyte

Granulocytes are cells in the innate immune system characterized by the presence of specific granules in their cytoplasm.

See Glossary of biology and Granulocyte

Gregor Mendel

Gregor Johann Mendel OSA (Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian-Czech biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno (Brünn), Margraviate of Moravia.

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Guanine

Guanine (symbol G or Gua) is one of the four main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine (uracil in RNA).

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Guanosine triphosphate

Guanosine-5'-triphosphate (GTP) is a purine nucleoside triphosphate.

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Habitat

In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species.

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Habituation

Habituation is a form of non-associative learning in which a non-reinforced response to a stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged presentations of that stimulus.

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Heredity

Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information of their parents.

See Glossary of biology and Heredity

Hermaphrodite

A hermaphrodite is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes.

See Glossary of biology and Hermaphrodite

Herpetology

Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν herpetón, meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and tuataras).

See Glossary of biology and Herpetology

Heterosis

Heterosis, hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement is the improved or increased function of any biological quality in a hybrid offspring.

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Heterotroph

A heterotroph is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter.

See Glossary of biology and Heterotroph

Histology

Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues.

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Hodgkin–Huxley model

The Hodgkin–Huxley model, or conductance-based model, is a mathematical model that describes how action potentials in neurons are initiated and propagated.

See Glossary of biology and Hodgkin–Huxley model

Hormone

A hormone (from the Greek participle ὁρμῶν, "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior.

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Host (biology)

In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist guest (symbiont).

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Hybrid (biology)

In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, subspecies, species or genera through sexual reproduction.

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Hydrocarbon

In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon.

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Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds.

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Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus (hypothalami) is a small part of the vertebrate brain that contains a number of nuclei with a variety of functions.

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Ichthyology

Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha).

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Ileum

The ileum is the final section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds.

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Immune response

An immune response is a physiological reaction which occurs within an organism in the context of inflammation for the purpose of defending against exogenous factors.

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Immune system

The immune system is a network of biological systems that protects an organism from diseases.

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Immunity (medicine)

In biology, immunity is the state of being insusceptible or resistant to a noxious agent or process, especially a pathogen or infectious disease.

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Immunology

Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of immune systems in all organisms.

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Index of biology articles

Biology is the study of life and its processes.

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Infection

An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce.

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Insect

Insects (from Latin insectum) are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta.

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Insulin

Insulin (from Latin insula, 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (INS) gene.

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Integrative Biology

Integrative Biology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the interface between biology and the fields of physics, chemistry, engineering, imaging, and informatics.

See Glossary of biology and Integrative Biology

Interferon

Interferons (IFNs) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses.

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Internal fertilization

Internal fertilization is the union of an egg and sperm cell during sexual reproduction inside the female body.

See Glossary of biology and Internal fertilization

International System of Units

The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French Système international d'unités), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement.

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Interphase

Interphase is the active portion of the cell cycle that includes the G1, S, and G2 phases, where the cell grows, replicates its DNA, and prepares for mitosis, respectively.

See Glossary of biology and Interphase

Introduced species

An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally.

See Glossary of biology and Introduced species

Invertebrate

Invertebrates is an umbrella term describing animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a spine or backbone), which evolved from the notochord.

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Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.

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Ionic bonding

Ionic bonding is a type of chemical bonding that involves the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions, or between two atoms with sharply different electronegativities, and is the primary interaction occurring in ionic compounds.

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Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formula – that is, the same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space.

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Jejunum

The jejunum is the second part of the small intestine in humans and most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds.

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Jellyfish

Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies, are the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria.

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Kinase

In biochemistry, a kinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates.

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Kingdom (biology)

In biology, a kingdom is the second highest taxonomic rank, just below domain.

See Glossary of biology and Kingdom (biology)

Konstantin Mereschkowski

Konstantin Sergeevich Mereschkowski (p; – 9 January 1921) was a Russian biologist and botanist, active mainly around Kazan, whose research on lichens led him to propose the theory of symbiogenesis – that larger, more complex cells (of eukaryotes) evolved from the symbiotic relationship between less complex ones.

See Glossary of biology and Konstantin Mereschkowski

Larva

A larva (larvae) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage.

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Leaf

A leaf (leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis.

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Lichen

A lichen is a symbiosis of algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species, along with a yeast embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualistic relationship.

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Life

Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not.

See Glossary of biology and Life

Ligament

A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones.

See Glossary of biology and Ligament

Ligand (biochemistry)

In biochemistry and pharmacology, a ligand is a substance that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose.

See Glossary of biology and Ligand (biochemistry)

Lipid

Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others.

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Lipoprotein

A lipoprotein is a biochemical assembly whose primary function is to transport hydrophobic lipid (also known as fat) molecules in water, as in blood plasma or other extracellular fluids.

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Lymphocyte

A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte) in the immune system of most vertebrates.

See Glossary of biology and Lymphocyte

Lynn Margulis

Lynn Margulis (born Lynn Petra Alexander; March 5, 1938 – November 22, 2011) was an American evolutionary biologist, and was the primary modern proponent for the significance of symbiosis in evolution.

See Glossary of biology and Lynn Margulis

Macroevolution

Macroevolution usually means the evolution of large-scale structures and traits that go significantly beyond the intraspecific variation found in microevolution (including speciation).

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Macromolecule

A macromolecule is a very large molecule important to biological processes, such as a protein or nucleic acid.

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Macrophage

Macrophages (abbreviated Mφ, MΦ or MP) are a type of white blood cell of the innate immune system that engulf and digest pathogens, such as cancer cells, microbes, cellular debris, and foreign substances, which do not have proteins that are specific to healthy body cells on their surface.

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Mammal

A mammal is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia.

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Mammalogy

In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems.

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Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea.

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Mast cell

A mast cell (also known as a mastocyte or a labrocyte) is a resident cell of connective tissue that contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin.

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Mathematical and theoretical biology

Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development and behavior of the systems, as opposed to experimental biology which deals with the conduction of experiments to test scientific theories.

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Mating

In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction.

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Matter

In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume.

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Medical research

Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of health.

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Medulla oblongata

The medulla oblongata or simply medulla is a long stem-like structure which makes up the lower part of the brainstem.

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Meiosis

Meiosis ((since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, the sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately result in four cells, each with only one copy of each chromosome (haploid).

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Membrane potential

Membrane potential (also transmembrane potential or membrane voltage) is the difference in electric potential between the interior and the exterior of a biological cell.

See Glossary of biology and Membrane potential

Mendelian inheritance

Mendelian inheritance (also known as Mendelism) is a type of biological inheritance following the principles originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866, re-discovered in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, and later popularized by William Bateson.

See Glossary of biology and Mendelian inheritance

Menstrual cycle

The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible.

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Mesoderm

The mesoderm is the middle layer of the three germ layers that develops during gastrulation in the very early development of the embryo of most animals.

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Messenger RNA

In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein.

See Glossary of biology and Messenger RNA

Metabolic wastes or excrements are substances left over from metabolic processes (such as cellular respiration) which cannot be used by the organism (they are surplus or toxic), and must therefore be excreted.

See Glossary of biology and Metabolic waste

Metabolism (from μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.

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Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation.

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Metaphase (and) is a stage of mitosis in the eukaryotic cell cycle in which chromosomes are at their second-most condensed and coiled stage (they are at their most condensed in anaphase).

See Glossary of biology and Metaphase

Microbiological culture

A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture medium under controlled laboratory conditions.

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Microbiology

Microbiology is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular (single-celled), multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or acellular (lacking cells).

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Microevolution

Microevolution is the change in allele frequencies that occurs over time within a population.

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Microscope

A microscope is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye.

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Microscopic scale

The microscopic scale is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly.

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Microtubule

Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells.

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Mitochondrion

A mitochondrion is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi.

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Mitosis

Mitosis is a part of the cell cycle in which replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei.

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Molecular biology

Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions.

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Molecular switch

A molecular switch is a molecule that can be reversibly shifted between two or more stable states.

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Molecule

A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion.

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Mollusca

Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals, after Arthropoda; members are known as molluscs or mollusks.

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Monocyte

Monocytes are a type of leukocyte or white blood cell.

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Monomer

A monomer (mono-, "one" + -mer, "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization.

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Morphogenesis

Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê shape and genesis creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape.

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Morphology (biology)

Morphology in biology is the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features.

See Glossary of biology and Morphology (biology)

Motility

Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy.

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Motor cortex

The motor cortex is the region of the cerebral cortex involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary movements.

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Mucous membrane

A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs.

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Multicellular organism

A multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell, unlike unicellular organisms.

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Mutation

In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA.

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Mutualism (biology)

Mutualism describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit.

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Mycology

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans.

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Myofibril

A myofibril (also known as a muscle fibril or sarcostyle) is a basic rod-like organelle of a muscle cell.

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Myosin

Myosins are a superfamily of motor proteins best known for their roles in muscle contraction and in a wide range of other motility processes in eukaryotes.

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Natural selection

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype.

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Nematode

The nematodes (or; Νηματώδη; Nematoda), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda.

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Neoplasm

A neoplasm is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue.

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Nephridium

The nephridium (plural nephridia) is an invertebrate organ, found in pairs and performing a function similar to the vertebrate kidneys (which originated from the chordate nephridia).

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Nervous system

In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body.

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Neuron

A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an excitable cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network in the nervous system.

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Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders.

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Neurotransmission

Neurotransmission (Latin: transmissio "passage, crossing" from transmittere "send, let through") is the process by which signaling molecules called neurotransmitters are released by the axon terminal of a neuron (the presynaptic neuron), and bind to and react with the receptors on the dendrites of another neuron (the postsynaptic neuron) a short distance away.

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Neurotransmitter

A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a synapse.

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Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a coenzyme central to metabolism.

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Nitrate

Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula.

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Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has symbol N and atomic number 7.

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Nitrogen cycle

The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems.

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Nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular dinitrogen is converted into ammonia.

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Nitrogen oxide

Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds.

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Nuclear envelope

The nuclear envelope, also known as the nuclear membrane, is made up of two lipid bilayer membranes that in eukaryotic cells surround the nucleus, which encloses the genetic material.

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Nucleic acid

Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses.

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Nucleic acid double helix

In molecular biology, the term double helix refers to the structure formed by double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA.

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Nucleic acid sequence

A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule.

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Nucleoid

The nucleoid (meaning nucleus-like) is an irregularly shaped region within the prokaryotic cell that contains all or most of the genetic material.

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Nucleolus

The nucleolus (nucleoli) is the largest structure in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells.

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Nucleoside

Nucleosides are glycosylamines that can be thought of as nucleotides without a phosphate group.

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Nucleotide

Nucleotides are organic molecules composed of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate.

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Nucleotide base

Nucleotide bases (also nucleobases, nitrogenous bases) are nitrogen-containing biological compounds that form nucleosides, which, in turn, are components of nucleotides, with all of these monomers constituting the basic building blocks of nucleic acids.

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Nutrient

A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce.

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Nutrient cycle

A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of inorganic and organic matter back into the production of matter.

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Offspring

In biology, offspring are the young creation of living organisms, produced either by a single organism or, in the case of sexual reproduction, two organisms.

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Order (biology)

Order (ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy.

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Organ (biology)

In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function.

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Organic compound

Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon.

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Organism

An organism is defined in a medical dictionary as any living thing that functions as an individual.

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Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds.

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Osmosis

Osmosis is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of low water potential (region of higher solute concentration), in the direction that tends to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides.

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Osteichthyes

Osteichthyes, also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue.

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Outline of biology

Biology – The natural science that studies life.

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Ovary

The ovary is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova.

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Oxidative phosphorylation

Oxidative phosphorylation (UK, US) or electron transport-linked phosphorylation or terminal oxidation is the metabolic pathway in which cells use enzymes to oxidize nutrients, thereby releasing chemical energy in order to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

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Oxygen

Oxygen is a chemical element; it has symbol O and atomic number 8.

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Paleontology

Paleontology, also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present).

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Pancreas

The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates.

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Parallel evolution

Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.

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Parasitic worm

Parasitic worms, also known as helminths, are large macroparasites; adults can generally be seen with the naked eye.

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Parasitism

Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life.

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Parasitology

Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them.

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Parathyroid gland

Parathyroid glands are small endocrine glands in the neck of humans and other tetrapods.

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Pathogen

In biology, a pathogen (πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and -γενής, "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease.

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Pathology

Pathology is the study of disease and injury.

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Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem.

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PH

In chemistry, pH, also referred to as acidity or basicity, historically denotes "potential of hydrogen" (or "power of hydrogen").

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Phagocytosis

Phagocytosis is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome.

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Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology.

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Phenotype

In genetics, the phenotype is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism.

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Phenotypic trait

A phenotypic trait, simply trait, or character state is a distinct variant of a phenotypic characteristic of an organism; it may be either inherited or determined environmentally, but typically occurs as a combination of the two.

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Pheromone

A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species.

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Phloem

Phloem is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as photosynthates, in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant.

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Phosphorylation

In biochemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion.

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Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism.

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Phylogenetic tree

A phylogenetic tree, phylogeny or evolutionary tree is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.

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Phylum

In biology, a phylum (phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class.

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Physiology

Physiology is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system.

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Phytochemical

Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals.

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Phytochemistry

Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants.

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Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems.

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Pineal gland

The pineal gland (also known as the pineal body or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates.

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Pituitary gland

The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates.

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Placebo

A placebo is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value.

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Plankton

Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in water (or air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against currents (or wind).

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Plant

Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic.

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Plant breeding

Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics.

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Plant pathology

Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors).

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Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root.

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Plasmolysis

Plasmolysis is the process in which cells lose water in a hypertonic solution.

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Ploidy

Ploidy is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes.

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Pollen

Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction.

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Pollination

Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds.

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Polymer

A polymer is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules linked together into chains of repeating subunits.

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Polymerase chain reaction

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to make millions to billions of copies of a specific DNA sample rapidly, allowing scientists to amplify a very small sample of DNA (or a part of it) sufficiently to enable detailed study.

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Polyploidy

Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of (homologous) chromosomes.

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Population

Population is the term typically used to refer to the number of people in a single area.

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Population biology

The term population biology has been used with different meanings.

See Glossary of biology and Population biology

Population ecology

Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment, such as birth and death rates, and by immigration and emigration.

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Predation

Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey.

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Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb).

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Primer (molecular biology)

A primer is a short, single-stranded nucleic acid used by all living organisms in the initiation of DNA synthesis.

See Glossary of biology and Primer (molecular biology)

Progesterone

Progesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species.

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Prokaryote

A prokaryote (less commonly spelled procaryote) is a single-cell organism whose cell lacks a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.

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Properties of water

Water is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from an inherent hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "universal solvent" and the "solvent of life". It is the most abundant substance on the surface of Earth and the only common substance to exist as a solid, liquid, and gas on Earth's surface.

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Protein

Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues.

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Protein filament

In biology, a protein filament is a long chain of protein monomers, such as those found in hair, muscle, or in flagella.

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Protist

A protist or protoctist is any eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, land plant, or fungus.

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Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior.

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Purine

Purine is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound that consists of two rings (pyrimidine and imidazole) fused together.

See Glossary of biology and Purine

Pyrimidine

Pyrimidine is an aromatic, heterocyclic, organic compound similar to pyridine.

See Glossary of biology and Pyrimidine

Race (biology)

In biological taxonomy, race is an informal rank in the taxonomic hierarchy for which various definitions exist.

See Glossary of biology and Race (biology)

Redox

Redox (reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change.

See Glossary of biology and Redox

Regeneration (biology)

Regeneration in biology is the process of renewal, restoration, and tissue growth that makes genomes, cells, organisms, and ecosystems resilient to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage.

See Glossary of biology and Regeneration (biology)

Reproduction

Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents.

See Glossary of biology and Reproduction

Reproductive biology

Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction.

See Glossary of biology and Reproductive biology

Reproductive isolation

The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes critical for speciation.

See Glossary of biology and Reproductive isolation

Reproductive system

The reproductive system of an organism, also known as the genital system, is the biological system made up of all the anatomical organs involved in sexual reproduction.

See Glossary of biology and Reproductive system

Reptile

Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with usually an ectothermic ('cold-blooded') metabolism and amniotic development.

See Glossary of biology and Reptile

Ribonucleotide

In biochemistry, a ribonucleotide is a nucleotide containing ribose as its pentose component.

See Glossary of biology and Ribonucleotide

Ribosome

Ribosomes are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (messenger RNA translation).

See Glossary of biology and Ribosome

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) is an organic substance that is involved in photosynthesis, notably as the principal CO2 acceptor in plants.

See Glossary of biology and Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate

RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA).

See Glossary of biology and RNA

RNA polymerase

In molecular biology, RNA polymerase (abbreviated RNAP or RNApol), or more specifically DNA-directed/dependent RNA polymerase (DdRP), is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactions that synthesize RNA from a DNA template.

See Glossary of biology and RNA polymerase

Seed

In botany, a seed is a plant embryo and food reserve enclosed in a protective outer covering called a seed coat (testa).

See Glossary of biology and Seed

Selective breeding

Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together.

See Glossary of biology and Selective breeding

Sessility (motility)

Sessility is the biological property of an organism describing its lack of a means of self-locomotion.

See Glossary of biology and Sessility (motility)

Sex

Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes.

See Glossary of biology and Sex

Sex organ

A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction.

See Glossary of biology and Sex organ

Sex-determination system

A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism.

See Glossary of biology and Sex-determination system

Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete (haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote that develops into an organism composed of cells with two sets of chromosomes (diploid).

See Glossary of biology and Sexual reproduction

Shrub

A shrub or bush is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant.

See Glossary of biology and Shrub

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an illness, injury, or condition.

See Glossary of biology and Signs and symptoms

Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies.

See Glossary of biology and Sociality

Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to explain social behavior in terms of evolution.

See Glossary of biology and Sociobiology

Sodium

Sodium is a chemical element; it has symbol Na (from Neo-Latin natrium) and atomic number 11.

See Glossary of biology and Sodium

Soil

Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms.

See Glossary of biology and Soil

Soil biology

Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil.

See Glossary of biology and Soil biology

Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species.

See Glossary of biology and Speciation

Species

A species (species) is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction.

See Glossary of biology and Species

Sperm

Sperm (sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one).

See Glossary of biology and Sperm

Spinal cord

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals.

See Glossary of biology and Spinal cord

Spore

In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions.

See Glossary of biology and Spore

Stem cell

In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell.

See Glossary of biology and Stem cell

Steroid

A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration.

See Glossary of biology and Steroid

Strain (biology)

In biology, a strain is a genetic variant, a subtype or a culture within a biological species.

See Glossary of biology and Strain (biology)

Stroma (fluid)

Stroma, in botany, refers to the colorless fluid surrounding the grana within the chloroplast.

See Glossary of biology and Stroma (fluid)

Structural biology

Structural biology, as defined by the Journal of Structural Biology, deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization.

See Glossary of biology and Structural biology

Structure

A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized.

See Glossary of biology and Structure

Succinic acid

Succinic acid is a dicarboxylic acid with the chemical formula (CH2)2(CO2H)2.

See Glossary of biology and Succinic acid

Sugar

Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food.

See Glossary of biology and Sugar

Symbiogenesis

Symbiogenesis (endosymbiotic theory, or serial endosymbiotic theory) is the leading evolutionary theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic organisms.

See Glossary of biology and Symbiogenesis

Symbiosis

Symbiosis (from Greek,, "living with, companionship, camaraderie", from,, "together", and, bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two biological organisms of different species, termed symbionts, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic.

See Glossary of biology and Symbiosis

Synapse

In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or to the target effector cell.

See Glossary of biology and Synapse

Synthetic biology

Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms, and it applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nature.

See Glossary of biology and Synthetic biology

Systematics

Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time.

See Glossary of biology and Systematics

Systems biology

Systems biology is the computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems.

See Glossary of biology and Systems biology

Systems theory

Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial.

See Glossary of biology and Systems theory

T cell

T cells are one of the important types of white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response.

See Glossary of biology and T cell

Taxon

In biology, a taxon (back-formation from taxonomy;: taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit.

See Glossary of biology and Taxon

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization.

See Glossary of biology and Taxonomy

Taxonomy (biology)

In biology, taxonomy is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics.

See Glossary of biology and Taxonomy (biology)

Telophase

Telophase is the final stage in both meiosis and mitosis in a eukaryotic cell.

See Glossary of biology and Telophase

Testicle

A testicle or testis (testes) is the male gonad in all bilaterians, including humans.

See Glossary of biology and Testicle

Testosterone

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in males.

See Glossary of biology and Testosterone

Thermoregulation

Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different.

See Glossary of biology and Thermoregulation

Thylakoid

Thylakoids are membrane-bound compartments inside chloroplasts and cyanobacteria.

See Glossary of biology and Thylakoid

Thymine

---> Thymine (symbol T or Thy) is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T.

See Glossary of biology and Thymine

Thyroid

The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates.

See Glossary of biology and Thyroid

Tissue (biology)

In biology, tissue is an assembly of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same embryonic origin that together carry out a specific function.

See Glossary of biology and Tissue (biology)

Tonicity

In chemical biology, tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient; the water potential of two solutions separated by a partially-permeable cell membrane.

See Glossary of biology and Tonicity

Transcription (biology)

Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA.

See Glossary of biology and Transcription (biology)

Translation (biology)

In biology, translation is the process in living cells in which proteins are produced using RNA molecules as templates.

See Glossary of biology and Translation (biology)

Tree

In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves.

See Glossary of biology and Tree

Trophic level

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web.

See Glossary of biology and Trophic level

Tubulin

Tubulin in molecular biology can refer either to the tubulin protein superfamily of globular proteins, or one of the member proteins of that superfamily.

See Glossary of biology and Tubulin

Unicellular organism

A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells.

See Glossary of biology and Unicellular organism

Uracil

Uracil (symbol U or Ura) is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid RNA.

See Glossary of biology and Uracil

Urea

Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula.

See Glossary of biology and Urea

Urine

Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals.

See Glossary of biology and Urine

Uterus

The uterus (from Latin uterus,: uteri) or womb is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth.

See Glossary of biology and Uterus

Vacuole

A vacuole is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells.

See Glossary of biology and Vacuole

Vasodilation

Vasodilation, also known as vasorelaxation, is the widening of blood vessels.

See Glossary of biology and Vasodilation

Vegetative reproduction

Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is a form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or specialized reproductive structures, which are sometimes called vegetative propagules.

See Glossary of biology and Vegetative reproduction

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are deuterostomal animals with bony or cartilaginous axial endoskeleton — known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone — around and along the spinal cord, including all fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

See Glossary of biology and Vertebrate

Vesicle (biology and chemistry)

In cell biology, a vesicle is a structure within or outside a cell, consisting of liquid or cytoplasm enclosed by a lipid bilayer.

See Glossary of biology and Vesicle (biology and chemistry)

Vestigiality

Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species.

See Glossary of biology and Vestigiality

Virology

Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses.

See Glossary of biology and Virology

Virus

A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism.

See Glossary of biology and Virus

White blood cell

White blood cells (scientific name leukocytes), also called immune cells or immunocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders.

See Glossary of biology and White blood cell

Whole genome sequencing

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is the process of determining the entirety, or nearly the entirety, of the DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a single time.

See Glossary of biology and Whole genome sequencing

Wood

Wood is a structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants.

See Glossary of biology and Wood

X chromosome

The X chromosome is one of the two sex chromosomes in many organisms, including mammals, and is found in both males and females.

See Glossary of biology and X chromosome

X-inactivation

X-inactivation (also called Lyonization, after English geneticist Mary Lyon) is a process by which one of the copies of the X chromosome is inactivated in therian female mammals.

See Glossary of biology and X-inactivation

Xanthophyll

Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes.

See Glossary of biology and Xanthophyll

Xylem

Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem.

See Glossary of biology and Xylem

Y chromosome

The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms.

See Glossary of biology and Y chromosome

Yolk

Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo.

See Glossary of biology and Yolk

Zoology

ZoologyThe pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon.

See Glossary of biology and Zoology

Zooplankton

Zooplankton are the animal (or heterotrophic) component of the planktonic community (the "zoo-" prefix comes from), having to consume other organisms to thrive.

See Glossary of biology and Zooplankton

ZW sex-determination system

The ZW sex-determination system is a chromosomal system that determines the sex of offspring in birds, some fish and crustaceans such as the giant river prawn, some insects (including butterflies and moths), the schistosome family of flatworms, and some reptiles, e.g. majority of snakes, lacertid lizards and monitors, including Komodo dragons.

See Glossary of biology and ZW sex-determination system

Zygospore

A zygospore is a diploid reproductive stage in the life cycle of many fungi and protists.

See Glossary of biology and Zygospore

Zygote

A zygote is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes.

See Glossary of biology and Zygote

See also

Glossaries of biology

• Glossary of biology
• Glossary of cellular and molecular biology (0–L)
• Glossary of cellular and molecular biology (M–Z)
• Glossary of developmental biology
• Glossary of ecology
• Glossary of genetics and evolutionary biology
• Glossary of invasion biology terms
• Glossary of lichen terms
• Glossary of mycology
• Glossary of scientific naming
• Glossary of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Glossary of virology
• List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
• List of descriptive plant species epithets (A–H)
• List of descriptive plant species epithets (I–Z)
• List of plant family names with etymologies
• List of plant genera named for people (A–C)
• List of plant genera named for people (D–J)
• List of plant genera named for people (K–P)
• List of plant genera named for people (Q–Z)
• List of plant genus names with etymologies (A–C)
• List of plant genus names with etymologies (D–K)
• List of plant genus names with etymologies (L–P)
• List of plant genus names with etymologies (Q–Z)

Glossaries of science

• Glossary of Arabic toponyms
• Glossary of Hebrew toponyms
• Glossary of aerospace engineering
• Glossary of agriculture
• Glossary of archaeology
• Glossary of architecture
• Glossary of areas of mathematics
• Glossary of artificial intelligence
• Glossary of astronomy
• Glossary of biology
• Glossary of chemical formulae
• Glossary of chemistry terms
• Glossary of civil engineering
• Glossary of climate change
• Glossary of clinical research
• Glossary of computer science
• Glossary of economics
• Glossary of electrical and electronics engineering
• Glossary of elementary quantum mechanics
• Glossary of engineering: A–L
• Glossary of engineering: M–Z
• Glossary of environmental science
• Glossary of experimental design
• Glossary of geography terms (A–M)
• Glossary of geography terms (N–Z)
• Glossary of geology
• Glossary of geothermal heating and cooling
• Glossary of industrial automation
• Glossary of levelling terms
• Glossary of library and information science
• Glossary of mechanical engineering
• Glossary of medicine
• Glossary of meteoritics
• Glossary of meteorology
• Glossary of physics
• Glossary of power electronics
• Glossary of probability and statistics
• Glossary of psychiatry
• Glossary of quantum philosophy
• Glossary of robotics
• Glossary of sound laws in the Indo-European languages
• Glossary of string theory
• Glossary of structural engineering
• Glossary of vexillology
• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_biology

Also known as Biology terminology, Endocellular, Extracellular, Extracellular compartment, Extracellular environment, Intracellular.

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