acidophilus milk - Milk seeded with living Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria used to improve the balance of beneficial bacteria in the intestines of the person who drinks the milk.
amino acids - Long chains of amino acids make up proteins. About 20 are known. Some amino acids are made in the body; those that are not are called essential amino acids and must be supplied in food.
antibiotics - Pharmaceuticals obtained from microbes to prevent or treat infections by inhibiting growth of disease-producing bacteria and fungi.
antibody - Protein produced in body tissues in response to the presence of a specific antigen. See antigen.
antigen - Foreign substance that when introduced into body tissues, induces an immune response by a specific antibody. See antibody.
antisense - Way to turn off a gene by putting a "reverse version" or "mirror image" version of the gene into a cell. See marker gene.
assay - Technique for measuring a biological response; a test.
bacillus - Singular for a rod-shaped bacterium (plural, bacilli). Also used as the name of a genus of bacteria, including the species Bacillus thuringiensis (see next entry).
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) - Bacterium that produces a protein called Bt toxin, a biological insecticide. Bt toxin is used to control insect pests by dusting the crop with Bt bacteria. When ingested, Bt toxin kills certain insect larvae, but is regarded as harmless to humans, pets and most beneficial insects such as bees. Inserting a copy of the Bt gene into plants enables them to produce Bt toxin protein. Such plants can resist some insect pests. See biological control, microbial insecticide.
bacterium - Class of single-cell organisms (plural, bacteria). One member, E. coli, is commonly used in recombinant DNA technology for producing proteins and other chemicals.
base - On the DNA molecule, one of the four chemical units that are linked in a series to make a strand of DNA. The four DNA bases are: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). In RNA, uracil (U) substitutes for thymine. See DNA finger printing, nucleotide.
biological control (biocontrol) - Managing pest populations by purposefully manipulating beneficial natural enemies - predatory or parasitic insects that kill pest insects, or microbes that cause insect diseases. See Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
biopulping - Experimental way of using a fungus to pretreat wood chips before making paper pulp. Biopulping reduces both energy use and water-polluting by-products.
bioremediation - Using organisms to remove toxins from the environment. Examples: a fungus to detoxify a wood preservative that contaminates soil at sawmills; a bacterium to help clean up oil spills.
biotechnology - Using living organisms to make a product or run a process - as ancient as using yeast to make bread (traceable back 6,000 years), or as modern as genetic engineering.
bovine - Formal word for any animal in the cattle family.
bovine growth hormone/bovine somatotropin (BGH/BST) - Two names for one protein hormone produced in the pituitary gland of cattle. BGH/BST can also be produced by inserting a copy of the gene for BGH/BST into laboratory bacteria. Such recombinant BGH/BST is also referred to as rBGH/rBST. Purified from pituitary glands or from bacterial cultures, BGH/BST injected into dairy cows can increase milk production up to 20 percent. Compare to porcine somatotropin (PST).
cell - Smallest unit of living matter able to grow and reproduce independently. Cells contain DNA for storing information, ribosomes for making proteins, and mechanisms for converting energy.
characterize - describe the distinguishing traits.
chromosome - One or more microscopic rod-shaped elements in the nucleus of a cell that contain genetic information for that cell. Chromosomes are composed of DNA and protein
chymosin - Enzyme, also called rennet, used in making cheese. Chymosin can be extracted from the stomach of veal calves, or from genetically engineered bacteria that have the gene for chymosin.
cloning - Technique of creating a group of genetically identical cells or DNA molecules from a single ancestor. In horticulture, cloned plants are reproduced asexually from a single parent.
Colorado potato beetle - Insect pest that prefers potatoes, but will attack tomatoes and eggplants. (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) cross protect Make a plant resistant to a severe virus by intentionally infecting it with a mild strain of the same virus.
culture - Cultivate cells or living organisms in a prepared medium under laboratory conditions. "Culture" is both the process and the growing cells.
cystic fibrosis - Disease of mucous glands throughout the body that usually develops during childhood, and makes breathing increasingly difficult. If a child receives two copies of the defective gene called the CF gene - one copy from each parent - then the child will develop the disease.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - Primary genetic material; complex substance of which genes are made within chromosomes. Each DNA molecule consists of two connected spiral strands in the shape of a double helix (like a twisted ladder). The biological information tape that stores genetic information in organisms and transmits it from generation to generation.
DNA analysis - See polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and RFLP mapping. Both PCR and RFLP analysis can be used in DNA fingerprinting for genealogical studies and forensics. See next entry.
DNA fingerprinting - Detecting patterns in DNA that indicate the presence of a gene for a trait. The pattern resembles a bar code printed on a commercial product so computers can scan the price. Forensics experts can use this distinct pattern to link or clear an Individual suspected of being involved in a crime, like they compare fingerprints. Breeders can use these patterns to find and select breeding stock with traits such as disease resistance.
electrophoresis - Technique for analyzing and separating molecules based on the movement of charged particles in an electric field.
embryo - Early stages of an animal's development that results when a sperm fertilizes an egg. Embryo cloning produces many calves from one embryo, for example.
enzyme - Protein catalyst that causes chemical reactions in the cell, producing compounds necessary for the cells growth and survival.
ethanol - Alcohol; yeasts ferment corn starch to yield ethanol for gasohol. See gasohol.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) - Common bacterium found in human and mammalian digestive tracts. Some strains of E. coli are used in recombinant DNA work because they have been genetically well-characterized and are easily grown in laboratory fermenters.
expression - In genetics, manifestation of a characteristic specified by a gene. In industrial biotechnology, production of a specific protein by inserting a gene into a new host organism.
feedstock - Raw material used for chemical or biological processes, such as polymers to produce plastics.
fermentation - Chemical reaction induced by a living agent - yeast, bacterium or mold - that splits complex organic compounds to simple ones. For example, yeast converts sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide. In biotechnology, the process of growing microbes to produce chemical or pharmaceutical compounds. Also referred to as classical biotechnology, traceable back 6,000 years.
fungus - Organisms including yeasts, molds, smuts and mushrooms (plural, fungi).
fusion - Joining the membrane of two cells of different origin to create a cell that contains the parent cells' nuclear material. Used in monoclonal antibody technology to make hybridomas - fusing an immortal cell (one that divides continuously) and an anti body-producing cell. See monoclonal antibody.
gasohol - Fuel; blend of ethanol and unleaded gasoline, usually 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. See ethanol.
gene - For genetic engineering, the smallest portion of a chromosome that contains the hereditary information for the production of a protein.
gene splicing - Inserting new genetic information into a chromosome using recombinant DNA techniques.
genetic analysis - Studying how traits and genes for traits are passed from generation to generation, and how genes and the environment interact to result in traits.
genetic code - Information coded within nucleotide sequences of RNA and DNA that specifies the amino acid sequence in protein synthesis and on which heredity is based.
genetic counseling - Providing current or prospective parents with information on the probabilities of inherited diseases occurring in their children, and on diagnosis and treatment of such diseases.
genetic engineering - Using recombinant DNA techniques and related methods to move one or several genes from one organism to another, to rearrange one or several genes within a cell, or to alter gene-controlled processes. Transferring a DNA segment from one organism and inserting it into the DNA of another organism to modify, amplify, transform and express genetic information. The two organisms can be totally unrelated. See recombinant DNA.
genus - Category of organisms ranking above a species and below a family.
hormone - Chemical that acts as a messenger relaying instructions to start certain physiological activities. Hormones are synthesized in one type of cell, and released to direct the function of other cell types.
human growth hormone - Human somatotropin, a protein hormone made in the pituitary gland. Lab-grown (HGH) bacteria given a copy of the gene for human growth hormone can then produce large amounts of HGH, which can be purified and used to treat certain kinds of human dwarfismța pathological condition of growth arrested by various causes.
insulin - Protein hormone that regulates blood sugar, made in cells of the pancreas. In the laboratory, microbes given a copy of the gene for human insulin can make insulin to treat diabetes mellitus, a shortage of insulin.
lactase - Enzyme in certain yeasts and mammalian intestinal tracts that catalyzes converting lactose to glucose and galactose. Lactase tablets remove lactose from milk for people who are lactose intolerant. See next entry.
lactose - Milk sugar; also white crystal sugar made from whey used in baby food, baked goods, candies and pharmaceuticals.
marker gene - Gene that is easy to find or observe. Attaching a marker gene to another gene that is hard to find, such as an antisense gene, is like putting a reflective collar on a dog so you can see the collar at night - even though you cannot see the dog, you know where it is. See antisense.
mastitis - Inflammation of milk-producing glands in a cow's udder, caused by bacteria. Mastitis can be treated with antibiotics.
methane - Odorless, colorless, flammable gas; component of natural gas and important source of hydrogen and organic compounds. Efficient anaerobic bacteria decompose sludge, manure or landfill wastes to produce methane. Some sewage plants collect methane to fuel generators, digesters and air compressors
microbe - Microorganism; any organism that can be seen only with the aid of a microscope.
microbial insecticide - Preparation of living microbes - such as bacteria or fungi - pathogenic to specific groups of insects. Regulated as pesticides by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; users must follow specific labeling and use guidelines. See Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), biological control.
mold - Various fungous growths, often causing disintegration of organic matter; fungus that causes mold.
monoclonal antibody - A protein that recognizes and attacks one specific foreign substance invading the body (antigen). A monoclonal antibody may be used for early disease diagnosis and therapy. See fusion. monoculture - Producing only one type of crop over a large area of farmland.
mutagen - Agent that causes biological mutation. Examples include chemicals, radioactive elements and ultraviolet light. See pentachlorophenol.
mutation - Sudden random change in genetic material that may cause that cell and all cells derived from it to look or behave differently.