Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

properdin

(Encyclopedia)properdin prōˈpərdən [key], protein found in the blood serum of humans and some of the higher animals that appears to participate in certain specific immune responses. It is associated with the en...

fatigue, in physiology

(Encyclopedia)fatigue, in physiology, inability to perform reasonable and necessary physical or mental activity. Muscle fatigue, for example, results when the contractile properties of muscle are reduced, and conti...

interferon

(Encyclopedia)interferon ĭnˌtərfērˈŏn [key], any of a group of proteins produced by cells in the body in response to an attack by a virus. A cell infected by a virus releases minute amounts of interferons, wh...

hemoglobin

(Encyclopedia)hemoglobin hēˈməglōˌbĭn [key], respiratory protein found in the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of all vertebrates and some invertebrates. A hemoglobin molecule is composed of a protein group, kn...

Parkinson's disease

(Encyclopedia)Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 ...

cadmium

(Encyclopedia)cadmium kădˈmēəm [key] [from cadmia, Lat. for calamine, with which cadmium is found associated], metallic chemical element; symbol Cd; at. no. 48; at. wt. 112.411; m.p. 321℃; b.p. 765℃; sp. gr...

biology

(Encyclopedia)biology, the science that deals with living things. It is broadly divided into zoology, the study of animal life, and botany, the study of plant life. Subdivisions of each of these sciences include cy...

Sulston, Sir John Edward

(Encyclopedia)Sulston, Sir John Edward, 1942–2018, British molecular biologist, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1966. He was staff scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, from 1969 to 1992, w...

sap

(Encyclopedia)sap, fluid in plants consisting of water and dissolved substances. Cell sap refers to this fluid present in the large vacuole, or cell cavity, that occupies most of the central portion of mature plant...

virus

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Structure of a tobacco mosaic virus, an RNA-containing virus virus, parasite with a noncellular structure composed mainly of nucleic acid within a protein coat. Most viruses are too small (100...