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Home >> Dictionary of Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, Biotechnology >> Biofilms - Biological Containment
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Biocytin The conjugate amino acid residue formed by the covalent attachment of biotin via an amide linkage to a lysine residue.
Biodegradation The breakdown of a compound to its chemical constituents by living organisms. Substances that are readily biodegrated are said to be biodegradable.
Biodiversity 1. The variety of species or other taxa of microorganisms, plants and animals present in a natural community or habitat. 2. The variety of communities in a particular environment (ecological diversity). 3. Genetic variation in a species. 4. The variety of life in all its forms, levels and combinations that encompasses genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity.
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The maintenance of a high level of biodiversity is crucial for the stability of ecosystems.
Bioenergetics The study of the flow and transformation of energy in living organisms.
Bioengineering The use of artificial tissues, organs and organ components to replace body parts that are damaged, lost malfunctioning or diseased.
Bioenrichment Addition of nutrients or oxygen to increase microbial breakdown of pollutants.
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Bioethics The branch of ethics that deals with the life sciences and their potential impact on society. It serves to focus attention on problems that arise from the applications of biological processes chiefly genetic engineering and cloning.
Biofilms A layer of microorganisms growing on a surface in a bed of polymer material made by the organisms themselves. Biofilms contain a variety of microorganisms some of which corrode the surface (biocorrosion)leaving the surface rough and sticky, while others synthesise mucopolysaccharides to stick themselves and any other bacteria to the sticky surface. Biofilms are used in biofilters, fluidized bed reactors and biosensors.
The process of covering surfaces with biofilm is called biofouling. Biofouling is an irreversible, active process.
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Biofouling is a major problem in medical equipment such as catheters. Furthermore, biofilms are resistant to antibiotics and can shed bacteria into the patient. Biofilm build-up can be prevented by killing bacteria with a broad –spectrum biocide.
Biofilter A large –scale filtering system in which the surface area of the filter provides a support for organisms. Chemicals in the fluid flowing through the filter are degraded by the organisms. Biofilters are used for waster disposal. The most common form of biofilter is the trickle bed sewage treatment process.
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Biogel A matrix formed from a variety of materials such as dextran, polyacrylamide, agarose and cellulose that is used in the chromatographic purification of proteins.
Biogenesis The principle that a living organism can only arise from other living organisms that are similar to itself but not from nonliving material.
Biohydrometallurgy The use of bacteria to undertake processes that involve metals including microbial mining, oil recovery, desulfurisation and biocorrosion. The process involves two broad areas of bacterial analysis such as biosorption and redox reactions.
Bioinformatics Computer-based analysis of biomolecular data, especially large scale date sets derived from genome sequencing. The discipline of collating and analyzing genome sequence information.
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The branch of information technology that deals with storage and analysis of biological data.
Biofuel A liquid, solid or gaseous fuel that contains energy derived from a biological source. For example, modified rapeseed oil as rapeseed methyl ester (RME) can be used instead of diesel fuel in modified engines. This is sometimes named biodiesel. See biogas.
Biogas A mixture of methane and carbon dioxide that is produced from the anaerobic decomposition of waster such as domestic, industrial and agricultural sewage. Also termed gobar.
Bioequivalence The scientific basis on which generic and brand –name drugs are compared. Two products are considered to be bioequivalent if the bioavailability does not differ significantly when administered at the same dosage under similar conditions. Some drugs, however, are intended to have a different absorption rate.
Two products that differ in the rate of absorption may still be considered bioequivalent by FDA if the difference is noted in the labelling and does not affect the drug’s safety or effectiveness or change the drug’s effects in any medically significant way.
Biolistics Method of gene transfer by bombarding cells with microprojectiles coated with DNA. Also called particle bombardment.
Biological ageing See senescence.
Biological containment Restricting the movement of genetically engineered organisms by modifications that will prevent them from growing outside the laboratory Biological containment can be of two types:1. rendering the organism incapable of surviving in the outside environment.2. making the outside environment inhospitable to the organism. The second option is not suitable for bacteria because they are capable of survival in any environment. Thus the favoured approach for bacteria and yeasts is to induce gene mutations in the organism so that they need a supply of a specific nutrient that is available only in the laboratory.
These organisms are therefore incapable of survival outside the laboratory. Making the environment unfriendly to the organism is both a physical as well as a biological control. Some of the first genetically engineered rice strains were developed in England, which is too cold for rice to grow and subsequently tried in the dry fields in Arizona. Biological containment may also involve the use of genetically disabled cloning vectors and lost organisms which can survive only in the laboratory conditions provided by the experimenter and which are unavailable outside the laboratory.
Biological control See biocontrol.
Biological databases Databases available to researchers in biology. These include primary sequence databases for the storage of raw experimental data, secondary databases that contain information on sequence pattern and motifs, organism specific databases tailored for researchers working on a particular species and miscellaneous databases. The primary sequence databases are repositories for raw sequence data and can be accessed freely over the WWW. Three such databases comprising the International Nucleotide Sequences Database Collaboration are GenBank, the nucleotide sequence database maintained by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the DNA Databank of Japan (DDBJ).
The databases contain not only sequences but also extensive annotations. SWISS-PORT and the related database TrEMBL (Translated EMBL) are repositories for annotated protein sequences. The main sequence databases have a number of subsidiaries for the storage of particular types of sequence data. These include dbEST, to store ESTs, dbGSS, for single –pass genomic survey sequences (GSSs), dnSTS, to store sequence tagged sites (STSs unique ) and HTG (high-throughput genomic) division, which is used to store unfinished genomic sequence data.
There are many databases devoted to particular organisms. Such databases contain not only sequence data, but also information on gene expression, mutant phenotypes, genome maps, genome sequencing projects and relevant scientific literature, and provide links to resources for obtaining clones, mutants and for contacting researchers.
Biological diversity See biodiversity.
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