Important one liner Biology Facts, Terms and Definition part-3 (free read in e-library)

Important Biology Terms and Definition part-3 

• Incubation period: It is the interval between exposure to a disease and its appearance.
• Insemination: It is the introduction of semen or spermatozoa into the female genital tract.
• Insulin: It is a protein. Hormone produced by the Islets of Langerhans, a part of the endocrine gland pancreas.
• Invertebrate: It is a collective term for all animals which do not have a backbone or vertebral column.
• Jaundice: It is a condition characterised by yellowness of the skin, whites of eyes, mucous membranes and body fluids.
• Keratitis: It is any inflammation involving the cornea of the eyes.
• Lactation: It is the process by which milk secretion in the breasts is initiated and maintained and milk is delivered to the suckling infant.
• Leukaemia: It is a kind of cancer in which certain white blood cells grow in an uncontrollable manner.
• Lipid: It is one of a large group of oily or fatty substances essential for good health.
• Mammal: It is an animal.
• Mastectomy: It is surgical removal of the breast. Usually carried out in the case of patients suffering from breast cancer.
• Melanin: It is a polymeric pigment responsible for colouring of eyes, skin and hair. Melanin’s are produced by epidermal cells called melanocytes.
• Membrane: It is a sheetlike tissue covering biological cells.
• Meningitis: It is an inflammation of the protective tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It is characterised by high fever, severe headache, aversion to strong light and neck stiffness.
• Metamorphosis: It describes a change in an animal.
• Motor nerve: It is nerve which conveys an impulse directly to a muscle and causes it to contract.
• Muscular dystrophy: It is a hereditary disease which progressively damages muscle fibres and eventually destroys them.
• Necrosis: These are changes in the tissue brought about by the local death of cells.
• Nematode: It is a class of elongated roundworms.
• Neuron: It is an elongated greyish or reddish cell that is the basic functional unit of the nervous system.
• Neurosis: It is emotional disturbance that adversely affects thinking and judgement. A person suffering from neurosis shows constant anxiety about something or other.
• Nocturnal: It is active at night e.g., bats.
• Obesity: It is overweight of the body due to excessive accumulates in body tissues causing overall swelling.
• Odontology: It is a branch of science dealing with the study of teeth.
• Oedema: It is a condition in which excess of fluid accumulates in body tissues causing overall swelling.
• Oedipus complex: It is an abnormal both plant and animal material.
• Omnivore: It is an organism that can eat both plant and animal material.
• Orgasm: It is a state of highly emotional excitement that occurs at the climax of sexual intercourse.
• Ornithology: It is the branch of zoology dealing with the study of life or birds, including their identification and behavioural patterns.
• Oral Rehydration Solution: It is prepared by dissolving a pinch of salt and a little sugar in a glass of clean water.
• Orthopaedics: It is the branch of surgery dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of injuries, deformities and diseases of bones, joints ligaments and muscles.
• Ossification: It is the process of bone formation.

 

• Osteoporosis: It is a condition in which bones become thin and brittle due to loss of calcium.
• Ovary: It is an oval-shaped female sex gland that produces the ova, or egg cells
• and secreted hormones like oestrogen and progesterone.
• Ovulation: It is the release of a mature egg from the ovary during the menstrual cycle.
• Pancreas: It is a tongue-shaped organ that lies behind the stomach and produces two types of secretions.
• Paralysis: Any condition in which the ability to control the movement of a limb or a muscle is lost.
• Pasteurization: It is a technique of making milk safe for drinking by killing off any disease-causing bacteria present in it.
• Pathogen: Any micro-organism that causes disease.
• Pathology: It is the scientific study of the changes in tissue or body organs brought about by a disease or a physiological disorder. It is now used for diagnostic purposes.
• Pharynx: It is the cavity between the back of the mouth and the wind-pipe or food role in speech production.
• Phobia: It is a form an anxiety or irrational and intense fear triggered off by a specific, often harmless, situation or object.
• Pituitary gland: It is a pea-sized endocrine gland attached to the base of the brain below the hypothalamus by a short stalk. It is one of the most important glands of the body and secretes a number of important hormones which influence the activity of several other endocrine glands such as the adrenals and the thyroid.
• Plasma: It is the liquid part of body fluids such as lymph and blood. Blood plasma is a straw-coloured fluid containing proteins and inorganic materials.
• Platelet: It is a tiny, disc-shaped body present in blood which plays an important role in blood clotting.
• Puberty: It is the period of life when the gonads become functional i.e., an individual’s becomes sexually mature.
• Prostate gland: It is a gland of the male reproductive system of mammals. It secretes a fluid into the semen that activates the sperms and prevents them from
• clumping together.

 

• Protoplasm: It is the living material within a cell including the Mitochondria, ribosomes and chromosomes.
• Protozoa: It is a group of single celled organisms ranging from the heart to the lungs. It is the only artery that carries oxygen depleted blood.
• Pulmonary artery: It is the blood vessel that carries deoxygenated blood form the heart to the lungs. It is the only artery that carries oxygen depleted blood.
• Pulmonary vein: It is the blood vessel that carries oxygenated blood form lungs to the heart. It is the only vein in the body that carries oxygenated blood.
• Ruminants: These are grazing mammals that chew cud and have split hoofs, for example, ox, sheep, cow, camel and goat.
• Scabies: It is a contagious skin disease caused by a microscopic mite Sarcoptic scabies.
• Schizophrenia: It is a severe mental disease characterised by unpredictable disturbances in thinking where the individual withdraws from reality and begins thinking in illogical and confused patters.
• Scurvy: It is a disease caused by lack of vitamins C in the diet. The symptoms include slow healing of wounds, mouth and gums become sore.
• Senescence: It is the process of growing old; the period of old age.
• Serum: It is liquid portion that remains after blood clots, and the blood cells and clotting elements are removed by centrifugation.
• Sex chromosomes: It is one of a pair of chromosomes or one of several chromosomes that determine the genetic gender of its bearer. In humans the gender determining chromosomes are x and y chromosomes.
• Silicosis: It is a lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust.
• Spinal cord: It is that portion of the central nervous system behind or below the brain and beyond the confines of the skull.
• Sterile: It is a word which describes something that is completely free from bacteria and other micro-organisms.
• Thrombosis: It is the formation of a solid mass of blood, often called “clot” or
• “thrombus”, in a blood vessel, which leads to partial or complete blockage of blood circulation in the area.
• Thyroid: It is the ductless gland found on both sides of the windpipe, it secretes the hormone thyroxine, a compound of iodine and tyrosine which controls the rate of metabolism in the body affecting its growth and activity.

 

• Tonsils: These are two small glands, about the shape and size of an almond at either side of the back of the mouth. They are lymphoid tissues which protect the body from infections by filtering out germs. They also aid in the production of white blood cells.
• Toxicology: It is the scientific study of poisons. It also deals with the technology required for their study, detection and counteraction.
• Transfusion: It is the transfer of blood or plasma from one individual to another.
• Tuberculosis: It is commonly known as T.B., It is an infectious, inflammatory and contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• Tumour: It is an uncontrolled growth of cells resulting in a large mass.
• Typhoid: It is an infectious gastrointestinal disease that causes fever. It often spreads by contamination of food, milk or water with Salmonella typhi bacteria.
• Umbilical cord: It is a connective cord that links the unborn infant or foetus with the mother.
• Uterus: Hollow organs of the female reproductive system in which an unborn baby develops. It is located near the base of the abdomen.
• Vasectomy: It is a surgical operation for closing up of vas deferens, the tube which carries sperms from the testis to the prostate gland from where they are carried outside along with other secretions.
• Vector: It is an agent which carries infectious organisms from an infected individual to another.
• Vein: It is a blood vessel which carries blood form different parts of the body to the heart. All veins except the pulmonary veins pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood from lungs to the heart.
• Vertebrate: Any animal having a backbone or vertebral column.
• Vestigial organs: It is a small imperfectly developed organ which may have lost of changed its function in the course of evolution e.g., vermiform appendix of man.
• Virus: It is an extremely small obligate parasite which can multiply only in a living cell of a plant or an animal.
• Vitamins: These are organic compound that are essential but required in small quantities for the normal growth and proper nourishment of the body.
• X-chromosome: It is one of the sexes determining chromosomes. In humans it is this chromosome that carries the genes for maleness. A human only when it carries an XY chromosomal set up.

 

• Yeast: It is a collective name for unicellular fungi.
• Zygote: It is the fusion product of an egg and a male gamete (sperm), i.e. a fertilized egg or ovum.
• Antibiotic: It is a substance, synthesizes by micro-organism, which damages or kills another micro-organism.
• Anther: In a flower, the upper part of a stamen containing pollen grains.
• Aquatic: It means living in water. All life originated in the early oceans.
• Asexual reproduction: It is reproduction in which new organisms are formed a single parent without gamete production.
• Autogamy: self-fertilization.
• Autoclave: It is a pressure cooker used for the sterilization of materials.
• Auxins: These are plant hormones which control many aspects of plant growth.
• Baermann funnel: It is an apparatus used to isolate organisms living in soil water, e.g., algae protozoa.
• Balanced diet: It is the diet that includes carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, water, minerals and roughage.
• Benthos: These are the flora and fauna of the bottom of oceans and lakes.
• Beriberi: It is inflammation of the nerve endings, mostly occurring in the tropics and resulting from a deficiency of vitamin B (thiamine).
• Biology: It is the study of living things. There are many specializations including cytology (the study of cells), zoology (the study of animals), and ecology (the study of the environment).
• Biotechnology: It is the industrial use of living organisms to manufacture food, drugs or other products.
• Biofuel: It is a kind of fuel which is made from natural materials or waste.
• Biomass: It is the total weight of all the organisms in a particular habitat.
• Biosphere: It is the entire zone of air, land and water at the surface of the earth that is occupied by living things.