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phenylketonuria

(Encyclopedia)phenylketonuria fĕnˌəlkētˌəno͝orˈēə [key] (PKU), inherited metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency in a specific enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase). The absence of this enzyme, a recessive...

cephalosporin

(Encyclopedia)cephalosporin sĕfˌəlōspôrˈĭn [key], any of a group of more than 20 antibiotics derived from species of fungi of the genus Cephalosporium and closely related chemically to penicillin. Cephalospo...

Tu Youyou

(Encyclopedia)Tu Youyou, 1930–, Chinese pharmaceutical chemist, B.S. Peking Univ. School of Medicine, 1955. Tu has spent her entire career as a researcher at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in B...

Bonanno, Joe

(Encyclopedia)Bonanno, Joe (Joseph Bonanno), 1905–2002, American crime boss nicknamed “Joe Bananas,” b. Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He came to the United States illegally in 1924, settled in Brooklyn, an...

Ramazzini, Bernardino

(Encyclopedia)Ramazzini, Bernardino bārnärdēˈnō rämät-tsēˈnē [key], 1633–1717, Italian physician. He was professor at Modena (1682–1700) and at Padua until 1714. He is often called the father of indus...

protease inhibitor

(Encyclopedia)protease inhibitor prōˈtē-āsˌ [key], any of a class of drugs that interfere with replication of the AIDS virus (HIV), by blocking an enzyme (protease) necessary in the late stages of its reproduc...

Mitchell, George John

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, George John, 1933–, U.S. public official, b. Waterville, Maine. An attorney in private and government practice in the 1960s and 1970s, he was a protege of Senator Edmund Muskie. Generally ...

aloes

(Encyclopedia)aloes ălˈōz [key], drug obtained from the aloe; also a biblical name for an aromatic substance of various uses, mentioned in connection with myrrh and spices and thought to be the fragrant wood of ...

diuretic

(Encyclopedia)diuretic dīˌyərĕtˈĭk [key], drug used to increase urine formation and output. Diuretics are prescribed for the treatment of edema (the accumulation of excess fluids in the tissues of the body), ...

Daschle, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Daschle, Tom (Thomas Andrew Daschle) dăshˈəl [key], 1947–, U.S. senator from South Dakota (1987–2005), b. Aberdeen, S.Dak. A Democrat, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 197...