• abscissa - The x coordinate on an (x, y) graph; the input of a function against which the output is plotted.FOLDOC
• accurate - How close to the correct value your prediction falls. For example, if you are shooting for zero and five of your shots are -5 and five of your shots are +5, then your average is zero and you are very accurate, but not very precise.
• adaptation - The adjustment of an organism to its environment or the process by which it enhances such fitness.
• active transport - Transport of ions, nutrients or other molecules into a cell against a concentration gradient, this requires the expenditure of energy through ATP hydrolysis.
• adventitia - External connective tissue layer of blood vessels. Mainly collagen I.
• afferent - To the brain.
• aldehyde - A carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen, single-bonded to a hydrogen, and single-bonded to another chemical group (such as methane, benzene, another hydrogen, anything). (OMD)
• aldose - Any monosaccharide sugar that contains an aldehyde group (-CHO). (OMD)
• alcohol - An organic chemical containing one or more hydroxyl groups. Alcohols can be liquids, semisolids or solids at room temperature. Common alcohols include ethanol (the type found in alcoholic beverages) methanol (found in methylated spirit and can cause blindness and other nervous system damage if ingested) and propanol.
• aliphatic - A major class of organic compounds where carbon and hydrogen molecules are arranged in straight or branched chains. A type of hydrocarbon that includes alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes.
• alloxan - A crystalline compound, C₄H₂N₂O₄ obtained by the action of strong nitric acid on uric acid..
• amino terminus - A terminus. The end at which synthesis begins. The end of a polypeptide with a free amino group.(Weaver)
• anastomosis - An opening created by surgical, traumatic or pathological means between two normally separate spaces or organs.
• aneurysm - A sac formed by the dilatation of the wall of an artery, a vein or the heart.
• anions - Negative ions (go to anode).
• anode -The electrode in an electrochemical cell where oxidation takes place. During discharge, the negative electrode of the cell is the anode. During charge, the situation reverses and the positive electrode of the cell is the anode.
• antibodies - Glycoproteins (~150,000 daltons) composed of four polypeptide chains, two light chains, and two heavy chains.
• aponeurosis - Any one of the thicker and denser of the deep fasciae which cover, invest, and the terminations and attachments of, many muscles. They often differ from tendons only in being flat and thin. (OMD)
• basal laminae - proteoglycans forming a molecular sieve.(Gilbert)
• blood plasma - Acellular portion of blood. 90% water weight.
• blood serum - Blood plasma with platelet-derived fibers removed.
• Boltzmann constant - k 1.380650x10^-23 J/K. Relates the average kinetic energy of a molecule in an ideal gas to its absolute temperature. It is equal to the gas constant R, divided by Avogadro's number.
• carbonic acid - H₂C0₃
• carboxy terminus - C terminus. The end at which synthesis ends. The end of a polypeptide with a free carboxyl group.(Weaver)
• cathode -The electrode in an electrochemical cell where reduction takes place. During discharge, the positive electrode of the cell is the cathode. During charge, the situation reverses, and the negative electrode of the cell is the cathode.
• cations - Positive ions (go to cathode).
• cerebroside - Lipid or fatty substance in nerve and other tissue.
• chemical formula - Shorthand method for representing the composition of a substance e.g. NaCl.
• chirality - Handedness. A term used to describe a molecule which, in a given configuration, cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.
• chlorine - Atom.
• chloride - Ion.
• chondroitin - A mucopolysaccharide constituent of chondrin.
• chromosome - Humans 23 pairs of sister chromatids. 22 somatic.
• collagen - The protein substance of the white fibres (collagenous fibres) of skin, tendon, bone, cartilage and all other connective tissue, composed of molecules of tropocollagen, it is converted into gelatin by boiling. Collagen is a glycoprotein. Roughly half of total body protein. (Gilbert) Length 285nm. Dia 1.4nm.
• colloid - Microscopic particles suspended in some sort of liquid medium. The particles are between one nanometre and one micrometre in size and can be macromolecules.
• cornea - The transparent structure forming the anterior part of the fibrous tunic of the eye. It consists of five layers: 1. The anterior corneal epithelium, continuous with that of the conjunctiva. 2. The anterior limiting layer (Bowman's membrane). 3. The substantia propria or stroma. 4. The posterior limiting layer (Descemet's membrane). 5. The endothelium of the anterior chamber.
• covalent bond - Electron is shared. Usually exothermic. Sometimes endothermic.
• cpm - counts per minute
• cyanogen bromide - CNBr BrCN - Agent that cleaves peptide bonds at methionine residues. The peptide fragments so generated can then, for example: be tested to locate particular activities.
• cytoplasm - 80-90% salt by weight.
• dialysis - The passage of a solute through a membrane.
• DNA - Right hand coiled. Negatively (left) supercoiled when non-mitotic.
• DNA gyrase - Negatively supercoils DNA.
• efferent - From the brain
• emperical formula - e.g. NaCl (since salt isn't a molecule, ionic bond)
• epiphysis - A part of a long bone where growth bone growth occurs from. (OMD)
• epitope - binding site for anitbody
• EST - Expressed Sequence Tag. Expressed sequence tags are sequence tagged sites derived from cDNAs.
• ester - Produced by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of a water molecule.
• etiology - (aetiology) A branch of knowledge concerned with the causes of particular phenomena, specifically a branch of medical science concerned with the causes and origins of diseases. The study of factors of causation or those associated with the causation of disease or abnormal body states.
• exon - The sequences of the primary RNA transcript (or the DNA that encodes them) that exit the nucleus as part of a messenger RNA molecule. In the primary transcript neighbouring exons are separated by introns.
• fecundity - A measure of fertility, such as sperm count or egg count or the number of live offspring produced by an organism.
• fertility - The capacity to conceive or induce conception and thus generate offspring.
• fibril - The diminuitive of fiber. A small fiber, a fine thread.
• FITC - Fluorescein isothiocyanate
• formula weight - Sum of atomic weights of atoms in formula
• galactitol - A naturally occurring product of plants obtained following reduction of galactose. It appears as a white crystalline powder with a slight sweet taste. It may form in excess in the lens of the eye in galactosaemia, a deficiency of galactokinase.
• galactose - C6 H12 O6. Galactose + Glucose = Lactose. Liver makes glucose from galactose. Component in cerebrosides. O-glycosidically linked to hydroxylysine of collagen.
• gamete - Specialised haploid cells produced by meiosis and involved in sexual reproduction.
• gel - Jelly like material formed by the coagulation of a colloidal liquid. Many gels have a fibrous matrix and fluid filled interstices: gels are viscoelastic rather than simply viscous and can resist some mechanical stress without deformation. Examples are the gels formed by large molecules such as collagen (and gelatin), agarose, acrylamide and starch.
• gelatin - Heat denatured collagen.
• glucose - O-glycosidically linked to hydroxylysine of collagen.
• glycoprotein - Proteins with covalently attached sugar units either bonded via the OH group of serine or threonine (O glcosylated) or through the amide NH2 of asparagine (N glycosylated)
• glycoproteins - Conjugated proteins containing one or more covalently linked carbohydrate residues. While technically describing conjugates in which the carbohydrate is less than 4 per cent by weight, the term is often used generically to include the mucoproteins and proteoglycans. e.g.: lubricin,
• glycosaminoglycan - A macromolecule found on the surface of eukaryotic cells which is thought to play a role in the cell's recognition of other cells or of a substrate. It consists of a network of long, branched chains made up of repeating units of disaccharides which contain amino groups, sugars, at least one of which has a negatively charged side group (carboxylate or sulphate) Commonest are hyaluronate, chondroitin sulphate, dermatan sulphate, keratan suplhate, heparan sulphate. Glycosaminoglycan side chains (with the exception of hyaluronate) are covalently attached to a core protein at about every 12 amino acid resiudes to produce a proteoglycan. Theses proteoglycans are then noncovalently attached by link proteins to hyaluronate forming an enormous hydrated space-filling poylmer found in ECM.
• glycosidase - General and imprecise term for an enzyme that breaks up and degrades complex sugar subunits of a polysaccharide such as starch or sucrose into simple ones, such as glucose or fructose. Widely used in food processing. It may distinguish between alpha and beta links but is not very substrate specific.
• glycosides - Any compound that contains a constituent sugar, in which the hydroxyl group attached to the first carbon is substituted by an alcoholic, phenolic, or other group. They are named specifically for the sugar contained, such as glucoside (glucose), pentoside (pentose), fructoside (fructose), etc. Upon hydrolysis, a sugar and nonsugar component (aglycone) are formed.
• glycosyl transferase - Enzyme that catalyses the transfer of a sugar (monosaccharide) unit from a sugar nucleotide derivative to a sugar or amino acid acceptor.
• HbA1c - Hemoglobin (Hb) is the compound in the red blood cells that transports oxygen. One of the types of hemoglobin (Hb) is called HbA and HbA1c is a specific subtype of HbA. Glucose binds slowly to Hb and produces glycosylated Hb. There are several types of glycosylated hemoglobin measures (including total glycosylated Hb and HbA1), but HbA1c, which is formed when HbA is glycosylated, is now considered the best and standard measure. MDRTC
• homolog - Genes are homologous if they recognizably have evolved from a common ancestor. Note that genes are either homologous or not; there are no degrees of homology! For example, all globin genes, and myoglobin, are homologs, even though some are more closely related to each other than others. When a measure of relatedness between sequences is required, percent identity or similarity should be used.
• hyaline - Clear, transparent, granule free, as for example hyaline cartilage and the hyaline zone at the front of a moving amoeba.
• hydrolysis - Chemical decomposition in which a compound is split into other compounds by reacting with water.
• hydrolysis - The splitting of a compound into fragments by the addition of water, the hydroxyl group being incorporated in one fragment and the hydrogen atom in the other.
• hydrolytic - Producing, noting, or resulting in hydrolysis.
• hydroxylation - Hydroxylate, to introduce hydroxyl into (a compound or radical) usually by replacement of hydrogen.
• hyperplasia - The abnormal multiplication or increase in the number of normal cells in normal arrangement in a tissue. (OMD)
• hypertonic - Of a fluid, sufficiently concentrated to cause osmotic shrinkage of cells immersed in it. Note that a mildly hyperosmotic solution is not necessarily hypertonic for viable cells, that are capable of regulating their volumes by active transport.
• hypotonic solution - Any solution which has a lower osmotic pressure than another solution (that is, has a lower concentration of solutes than another solution).
• hypotonic solution - A solution that contains a lower concentration of solutes than the cells that it is bathing, so that water flows into the cells from the solution by osmosis.
• hypotonic solutions - Solutions having a lower osmotic pressure than blood, or another solution with which they are compared.
• insulitis - Inflammation of the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. In insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, the islets in the pancreas contain cells with enlarged nuclei, some degranulated beta cell,a and a chronic inflammatory infiltrate.
• inconvenient - Bad time.
• inositol - A cyclic hexahydric alcohol with 6 possible isomers. The biologically active form is myo inositol. (OMD)
• intima - Inner layer of blood vessel, comprising an endothelial monolayer on the luminal face with a subcellular elastic extracellular matrix containing a few smooth muscle cells. Below the intima is the media, then the adventitia. The term may be applied to other organs. Collagen III (OMD)
• intron - A noncoding sequence of DNA within a gene, that is transcribed into hnRNA but is then cut out of the message by RNA splicing in the nucleus, leaving a mature mRNA that is then translated in the cytoplasm. Introns are poorly conserved and of variable length, but the regions at the ends are self complementary, allowing a hairpin structure to form naturally in the hnRNA, this is the cue for removal by RNA splicing. Introns are thought to play an important role in allowing rapid evolution of proteins by exon shuffling. Genes may contain as many as 80 introns.
• ionic bond - Electron is transferred. Always exothermic
• isotonic - 0.9% salt solution is isotonic to human blood plasma. An solution isotonic to blood has the same number of water molecules in a given volume.
• kinetochore - protein at centromere of chromosome.
• lactate - A salt or ester of lactic acid
• lactic acid - CH₃-HCOH-COOH
• lipolysis - The hydrolysis of fats into FA and glycerol as by lipase.
• Luse body - Abundant collagen.
• lysyl hydroxylase - catalyzes hydroxylation of lysine.
• Maillard reaction - One of a group of nonenzymatic reactions in which aldehydes, ketones, or reducing sugars react with amino acids, peptides, or proteins. Food browning reactions, such as those that occur with cooking of meats, and also food deterioration reactions, resulting in decreased nutritional value and colour changes, are attributed to this reaction type. The maillard reaction is studied by scientists in the agriculture, food, nutrition, and carbohydrate chemistry fields. (OMD)
• media - Avascular middle layer of the artery wall, composed of alternating layers of elastic fibres and smooth muscle cells. Collagen III
• meq - milliequivalent One-thousanth equivalent; 10-3 mole divided by valence.(OMD)
• mesenchyma - The part of the mesoblast which gives rise to the connective tissues and blood.
• mesoderm - Derived from the middle of the three mesoblast germ layers, gives rise to the musculoskeletal, blood, vascular and urinogenital systems, to connective tissue (including that of dermis) and contributes to some glands.
• mesenchyme - A diffuse network of cells forming the enbryonic mesoderm and giving rise to connective tissues, blood an blood vessels, the lymphatic system, and cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system.
• micro - greek mu m
• molecular formula - A formula that indicates the composition of a molecule e.g. H₂.
• monoclonal antibody- A substance, usually a protein, which can be synthsised in the laboratory in pure form by a single clone (population) of cells. These antibodies can be made in large quantities and have a specific affinity for certain target molecules called antigens which can be found on the surface of cells and those that are malignant. Monoclonal antibodies are currently being investigated as a possible form of cancer treatment although their benefit has not be fully proven. (OMD)
• mRNA - Made from template DNA. Energy from splitting the alpha and beta phosphates drives the reaction.
• mucopolysaccharide - The polysaccharide components of proteoglycans, now more usually known as glycosaminoglycans.
• NAD+ - nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is a coenzyme that helps the enzyme dehydrogenase. It has the ability to pick up H+ ions and high energy electrons from oxidation reactions mediated by the dehydrogenase enzyme. It then takes the electrons and H+ ions to the electron transport chain and there the high energy electrons convert their energy into ATP. (NAD)
• nucleus pulposus - The center cushioning gelatinous mass lying withing an intervertebral disk; the remains of the notochord. (Taber's)
• ortholog - Genes in two species are orthologs if they have evolved from a single common ancestral gene. For example, the beta globin genes of mouse and human are orthologs. Note that several genes in the mouse may have a single ortholog in another species and vice versa.
• osmoregulation - Processes by which a cell regulates its internal osmotic pressure. These may include water transport, ion accumulation or loss, synthesis of osmotically active substances such as glycerol in the alga Dunaliella, activation of membrane ATPases etc.
• osmosis - The movement of solvent through a membrane impermeable to solute, in order to balance the chemical potential due to the concentration differences on each side of the membrane. Frequently mis used in the popular press.
• osmotic pressure - The pressure required to prevent osmotic flow across a semi permeable membrane separating two solutions of different solute concentration. Equal to the pressure that can be set up by osmotic flow in this system.
• oxidized substance - Reducing agent
• paralog - Paralogous genes are genes within the same species that have arisen from a common ancestor by duplication and subsequent divergence. For example, the mouse alpha globin and beta globin genes are paralogs.
• parenchyma - The essential parts of an organ that are concerned with its function in contradsitinction to its framework.
• peptides - Any member of a class of compounds of low molecular weight which yield two or more amino acids on hydrolysis. Formed by loss of water from the nh2 and cooh groups of adjacent amino acids, they are known as di-, tri-, tetra- (etc.) peptides, depending on the number of amino acids in the molecule. Peptides form the constituent parts of proteins.
• peptidoglycan - Unique to prokaryote cell wall.
• polyclonal antibody - An antibody produced by several clones of B lymphocytes as would be the case in a whole animal. Usually refers to antibodies raised in immunised animals, whereas a monoclonal antibody is the product of a single clone of B lymphocytes, usually maintained in vitro. (OMD)
• polyol - Galactitol is an example
• Precise - Measure of how close each of your predictions are to each other. Let's say you're shooting for zero and all ten of your shots end up at +1. You are very precise, but not as accurate as the above example.
• primary polymer structure - Sequence of molecules or atoms. egs: DNA: AGCTTAGA, protein: KLXTGA
• proteoglycans - Glycoproteins which have a very high polysaccharide content. The carbohydrates are linear chains composed of repeating disaccarides. Usually one of the sugars has an amino group, so the repeating unit is called a glycosamnoglycan (GAG). eg decorin
• procollagen - Triple helical trimer of collagen molecules in which the terminal extension peptides are linked by disulphide bridges, the terminal peptides are later removed by specific proteases to produce a tropocollagen molecule.
• racemic acid - Isomeric modification of tartaric acid. Is optically inactive. Can be sep into dextrorotary and levorotatory.
• racemism - Optically inactive, but separable into dextro and levo.
• racemization - Conversion of optically active substance into an optically inactive mixture of equal amounts of dextro and levo forms.
• reduced substance - Oxidizing agent
• resting membrane potential - -70mV in Sea Urchin Eggs as well as in most neurons. Defined as potential inside cell, minus potential outside cell. V_m=V_in-V_out. Responsible for preventing polyspermy in urchin eggs and for information flow in neurons. Potassium is sequestered inside the cell, while sodium is kept out.
• ribosome - 20nm ribosomalRNA (rRNA) + proteins. Lg+Sm subunits. Sm=18S 20-30 polypeptides. Lg=5S+7S+28S+50Polypeptides.
• sclera The tough white outer coat of the eyeball, covering approximately the posterior five sixths of its surface and continuous anteriorly with the cornea and posteriorly with the external sheath of the optic nerve. (OMD)
• sea water - 3% salt by weight.
• secondary polymer structure - Structure within a poymer chain. egs: helix, sheet
• selection - Placing organisms under conditions where the growth of those with a particular genotype will be favored.
• selection (genetics) - Differential and non-random reproduction of different genotypes, operating to alter the gene frequencies within a population.
• sorbitol - The polyol (polyhydric alcohol) corresponding to glucose. Occurs naturally in some plants, is used as a growth substrate in some tests for bacteria and is sometimes used to maintain the tonicity of low ionic strength media.
• surface free energy - Silicon Oxide 400mJ/m²
• tertiary polymer structure - Structure produced by non-adjacent monomers. eg: disulfide bond of cystein.
• tropocollagen - Subunit from which collagen fibrils self assemble: generated from procollagen by proteolytic cleavage of the extension peptides.
• Type I collagen - Roughly 90% of all body collagen.
• Type I diabetes - Early onset. Lack of insulin.
• Type II diabetes - Adult onset. Poor insulin utilization.
• Type I Error - Incorrect rejection of true null hypopthesis, H_o.
• Type II Error - Failure to reject false null hypothesis, H_o.
• tRNA - At least one for every ammino acid. Usu 75-90 ribonucleotides. Anticodon end recognises complimentary mRNA to unite.
• turgor - The pressure within cells, especially plant cells, derived from osmotic pressure differences between the inside and outside of the cell giving rise to mechanical rigidity of the cells.
• urea - CH4N20 basic. Final product of protein metabolism.
• verify - Model matching data
• validate - Model matching theory
• vasa vasorum - Nutrient blood vessels which supply the walls of large arteries or veins.
• viscoelastic activation energy - Δ H _a. collagen toe region 12 kcal/mol. collagen linear region 32 kcal/mol (Hooley)
• vitreous - Glasslike or hyaline, often used alone to designate the vitreous body of the eye (corpus vitreum).
• vroomert (n)- A person driving his or her car in traffic who lacks either care or understanding of one or more of the following: Gasoline consumption increases with the car's rate of acceleration. Energy lost during braking is not recovered, but rather is lost as heat. In traffic, one unaware or unconcerned about these concepts may frequently be seen and heard vroomerting between streets or traffic lights. Origin: American. Vroom: Onomatopoeic word for the sound a car makes during acceleration. Ert: Onomatopoeic word for the sound a car makes during braking.
• vroomert (v)- The act of quickly accelerating only to begin braking shortly thereafter. Example: Dispite Bill's vroomerting to work this morning, he was still late.
• vroomertly (adv)- The manner in which a vroomert vroomerts his or her automobile. Example: Because Jill has been driving her car so vroomertly for the past year, not only did she burn more fuel than she had to, but her otherwise new automobile ended up in the shop prematurely, needing new brakes and a new suspension.
• weather - The state of the atmosphere.
• whether - Either
• O double bond 0 119 kcal/mole thus O₂ less stable than N₂.
• N triple bond N 227 kcal/mole thus N₂ more stable than O₂.
• 1 mole Cl2 + 58 kcal yields 2 moles Cl.
• 1 mole H2 + 104 kcal yeilds 2 moles H.
• 1 kcal = heat to raise 1kg H₂0 1C
• 1 cal = heat to raise 1g H₂0 1C
• To break 1 cubic meter (~1g) H₂ you must bring ~1 liter (1kg) of H₂0 from 0C to 100C

Bonds (Metcalf et al.)
Bond Type:	Ionic	PolarCovalent	PureCovalent
Transfer	complete	partial	equal
Ionic Character (%)	> 50%	5% to 50%	< 5%
Electroneg diff	> 1.8	0.5 to 1.8	< 0.5

Scott F. Gilbert. Developmental Biology 5th Ed.
Metcalfe, Williams, and Castika, Modern Chemistry, 1978
Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 1997 CJ Hooley and RE Cohen "A Model for the Creep behavior of tendon" Int. J. Biolog. Macromolecules. 1979. V1. Robert F. Weaver. Molecular Biology