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isoleucine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 isoleucine īˌsəlo͞oˈsēn [key], organic compound, one of the 20 amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is one of several es...

AIDS, in medicine

(Encyclopedia)AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, fatal disease caused by a rapidly mutating retrovirus that attacks the immune system and leaves the victim vulnerable to infections, malignancies, and neuro...

circus

(Encyclopedia)circus [Lat.,=ring, circle], historically, the arena associated with the horse and chariot races and athletic contests known in ancient Rome as the Circensian games. The Roman circus was a round or ov...

Zapata, Emiliano

(Encyclopedia)Zapata, Emiliano āmēlyäˈnō säpäˈtä [key], c.1879–1919, Mexican revolutionary, b. Morelos. Zapata was of almost pure native descent. A tenant farmer, he occupied a social position between th...

Jerne, Niels Kai

(Encyclopedia)Jerne, Niels Kai nēls kī yĕrˈnə [key], 1911–94, British-Danish immunologist, b. London. He worked at the Danish State Serum Institute (1945–55) and was chief medical officer to the World Heal...

Kornberg, Roger David

(Encyclopedia)Kornberg, Roger David, 1947–, American biochemist, b. St. Louis, Mo., Ph.D. Stanford, 1972; son of Arthur Kornberg. Kornberg held academic posts at Cambridge (1972–76) and Harvard (1976–78) befo...

National Institutes of Health

(Encyclopedia)National Institutes of Health (NIH), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service, with headquarters in Bethesda, Md. It was established initially in 1887 as a laboratory in the U.S. Marine Hospital on St...

Hoffmann, Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Hoffmann, Friedrich hôfˈmän [key], 1660–1742, German physician. He taught and practiced at Halle from 1693. He studied and wrote on such varied topics as pediatrics, mineral waters, and meteorol...

Good Agricultural Practices

(Encyclopedia)Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), economically, socially, and environmentally responsible methods and technologies for the raising and marketing of agricultural and horticultural products. Good agric...

Jos Plateau

(Encyclopedia)Jos Plateau jôs [key], region, c.3,000 sq mi (7,770 sq km), alt. c.4,200 ft (1,280 m), central Nigeria, W Africa. The plateau, composed mainly of granite, slopes gently to the north and is covered by...