3.1 Vocab

Question 1

Apoptosis

Answer 1

The changes that occur within a cell as it undergoes programmed cell death, which is brought about by signals that trigger the activation of a cascade of suicide proteins in the cell destined to die.

Question 2

Biopsy

Answer 2

The removal and examination of tissue, cells, or fluids from the living body.

Question 3

Bone scan

Answer 3

A test that detects areas of increased or decreased bone metabolism; test is performed to identify abnormal processes involving the bone such as tumor, infection, or fracture.

Question 4

Cancer

Answer 4

A malignant tumor of potentially unlimited growth that expands locally and systemically.

Question 5

Cell cycle

Answer 5

An ordered sequence of events in the life of a eukaryotic cell, from its origin in the division of a parent cell until its own division into two.

Question 6

Computed Tomography Scan (CT/CAT scan)

Answer 6

A sectional 3-dimensional view of the body constructed by computed tomography.

Question 7

Diagnostic imaging

Answer 7

Technologies that doctors use to look inside your body for clues about a medical condition; includes X-rays, CT scans, nuclear medicine scans, MRI scans, and ultrasound.

Question 8

DNA Microarray

Answer 8

A microarray of immobilized single-stranded DNA fragments of known nucleotide sequence that is used especially in the identification and sequencing of DNA samples and in the analysis of gene expression (as in a cell or tissue).

Question 9

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Answer 9

A noninvasive diagnostic technique that produces computerized images of internal body tissues and is based on nuclear magnetic resonance of atoms within the body induced by the application of radio waves.

Question 10

Oncogene

Answer 10

A gene has the potential to cause a normal cell to become cancerous.

Question 11

Osteosarcoma

Answer 11

Cancer derived from bone or containing bone tissue.

Question 12

Proto-oncogene

Answer 12

A normal cellular gene corresponding to an oncogene; a gene with a potential to cause cancer but that requires some alteration to become an oncogene.

Question 13

Radiology

Answer 13

A branch of medicine concerned with the use of radiant energy (as X-rays or ultrasound) in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Question 14

Risk factor

Answer 14

Something which increases risk or susceptibility.

Question 15

Tumor suppressor gene

Answer 15

A gene whose protein products inhibit cell division, thereby preventing uncontrolled cell growth (cancer).

Question 16

X-ray

Answer 16

To examine, treat, or photograph with X-rays.

Question 17

Alelle

Answer 17

Any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus

Question 18

BRCA

Answer 18

Either of two tumor suppressor genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) that in mutated form tend to be associated with an increased risk of certain cancers and especially breast and ovarian cancers

Question 19

Cryosurgery

Answer 19

Surgery in which diseased or abnormal tissue (as a tumor or wart) is destroyed or removed by freezing (as by the use of liquid nitrogen)

Question 20

Familial cancer

Answer 20

Cancer that occurs in families more often than would be expected by chance. These cancers often occur at an early age, and may indicate the presence of a gene mutation that increases the risk of cancer. They may also be a sign of shared environmental or lifestyle factors.

Question 21

Genetic marker

Answer 21

Alteration in DNA that may indicate an increased risk of developing a specific disease or disorder

Question 22

Hereditary Cancer

Answer 22

An inherited disorder in which affected individuals have a higher-than-normal chance of developing certain types of cancer, often before the age of 50

Question 23

Marker Analysis

Answer 23

A genetic technique whereby the sequence of the gene is not directly analyzed, but the mutant copy (allele) of the gene is inferred through analysis of a genetic marker

Question 24

Microsatellite (also known as Short Tandem Repeats-STRs)

Answer 24

Any of numerous short segments of DNA that are distributed throughout the genome, that consist of repeated sequences of usually two to five nucleotides, and that are often useful markers in studies of genetic linkage because they tend to vary from one individual to another

Question 25

Melanoma

Answer 25

A tumor of high malignancy that starts in melanocytes of normal skin or moles and metastasizes rapidly and widely

Question 26

Model System

Answer 26

An organism chosen to study broad biological principles

Question 27

Screening

Answer 27

To test or examine for the presence of something (as a disease)

Question 28

Sporadic Cancer

Answer 28

Cancer occurring occasionally, singly, or in scattered instances

Question 29

Virologist

Answer 29

A specialist in virology, the branch of science that deals with viruses

Question 30

Biofeedback

Answer 30

The technique of making unconscious or involuntary bodily processes (as heartbeat or brain waves) perceptible to the senses in order to manipulate them by conscious mental control

Question 31

Chemotherapy

Answer 31

The use of chemical agents in the treatment or control of disease or mental disorder

Question 32

Metastasis

Answer 32

The spread of a disease-producing agency (such as cancer cells or bacteria) from the initial or primary site of disease to another part of the body

Question 33

Myoelectric

Answer 33

Utilizing electricity generated by muscle

Question 34

Occupational Therapy

Answer 34

Therapy based on engagement in meaningful activities of daily life (as self-care skills, education, work, or social interaction) especially to enable or encourage participation in such activities despite impairments or limitations in physical or mental functioning

Question 35

Physical Therapy

Answer 35

The treatment of disease by physical and mechanical means (as massage, regulated exercise, water, light, heat, and electricity)

Question 36

Prosthesis

Answer 36

An artificial device to replace or augment a missing or impaired part of the body

Question 37

Radiation Therapy

Answer 37

The treatment of disease by means of radiation (as X-rays)

Question 38

Clinical Trial

Answer 38

A scientifically controlled study of the safety and effectiveness of a therapeutic agent (as a drug or vaccine) using consenting human subjects

Question 39

Controlled Study

Answer 39

Clinical trial in which the subjects are distributed into groups which are either subjected to the experimental procedure (as use of a drug) or which serve as controls

Question 40

Double Blind study

Answer 40

An experimental procedure in which neither the subjects nor the experimenters know which subjects are in the test and control groups during the actual course of the experiments

Question 41

Nanomedicine

Answer 41

Area of biomedical research that seeks to use tools from the field of nanotechnology to improve health

Question 42

Open Study

Answer 42

Clinical trial in which both the researchers and the patients know who receives the drug and who receives a placebo

Question 43

Pharmacogenetics

Answer 43

The study of the interrelation of hereditary constitution and response to drugs

Question 44

Placebo

Answer 44

An inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (as a drug)

Question 45

Single Blind Study

Answer 45

An experimental procedure in which the experimenters but not the subjects know the makeup of the test and control groups during the actual course of the experiments

Question 46

SNP

Answer 46

Variant DNA sequence in which the purine or pyrimidine base of a single nucleotide has been replaced by another such base (also called single nucleotide polymorphism)