Principles of Biomedical Sciences Flashcards
(27 cards)
<p>Adenine</p>
<p>A component of nucleic acids, energy-carrying molecules such as ATP, and certain coenzymes. Chemically, it is a purine base.</p>
<p>Chromosome</p>
<p>Any of the usually linear bodies in the cell nucleus that contain the genetic material.</p>
<p>Cytosine</p>
<p>A component of nucleic acids that carries hereditary information in DNA and RNA in cells. Chemically, it is a pyrimidine base.</p>
<p>Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)</p>
<p>A double-stranded, helical nucleic acid molecule capable of replicating and determining the inherited structure of a cell’s proteins.</p>
<p>Gel Electrophoresis</p>
<p>The separation of nucleic acids or proteins, on the basis of their size and electrical charge, by measuring their rate of movement through an electrical field in a gel.</p>
<p>Gene</p>
<p>A discrete unit of hereditary information consisting of a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA (or RNA, in some viruses).</p>
<p>Guanine</p>
<p>A component of nucleic acids that carries hereditary information in DNA and RNA in cells. Chemically, it is a purine base.</p>
<p>Helix</p>
<p>Something spiral in form</p>
<p>Model</p>
<p>A simplified version of something complex used, for example, to analyze and solve problems or make predictions.</p>
<p>Nucleotide</p>
<p>A building block of DNA, consisting of a five-carbon sugar covalently bonded to a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group.</p>
<p>Restriction Enzyme</p>
<p>A degradative enzyme that recognizes specific nucleotide sequences and cuts up DNA.</p>
<p>Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs)</p>
<p>Differences in DNA sequence on homologous chromosomes that can result in different patterns of restriction fragment lengths (DNA segments resulting from treatment with restriction enzymes).</p>
<p>Thymine</p>
<p>A component of nucleic acid that carries hereditary information in DNA in cells. Chemically, it is a pyrimidine base</p>
Autopsy
An examination of the body after death usually with such dissection as will expose the vital organs for determining the cause of death.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
A comprehensive set of standards and practices designed to give patients specific rights regarding their personal health information.
Medical Examiner
A physician who performs an autopsy when death may be accidental or violent. He or she may also serve in some jurisdictions as the coroner.
Homeostasis
The Maintenance of relatively stable internal environmental conditions.
Negative Feedback
A primary merchanism of homeostasis that triggers a response that
Glucagon
A protein hormone secreted by pancreatic endocrine cells that raises blood glucose levels; an antagonistic hormone to insulin.
Glucose Tolerance Test
A test of the body’s ability to metabolize glucose that involves the administration of a measured dose of glucose to the fasting stomach and the determination of blood glucose levels in the blood or urine at intervals thereafter and that is used especially to detect diabetes.
Homeostasis
The maintenance of relatively stable internal physiological conditions (as body temperature or the pH of blood) in higher animals under fluctuating environmental conditions.
Hormone
A product of living cells that circulates in blood and produces a specific, often stimulatory, effect on the activity of cells that are often far from the source of the hormone.
Insulin
A protein hormone secreted by the pancreas that is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrates and the regulation of glucose levels in the blood.
Negative Feedback
A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological variable that is being monitored triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation.
