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Welcome to Science Reader!
57 glossary terms
Biology and life sciences cover everything from the molecular machinery inside a single cell to the evolutionary forces that shape whole ecosystems. The terms in this section span genetics, anatomy, microbiology, ecology, and the frontier where biology meets chemistry and computation. Some are classroom staples like the double helix or photosynthesis. Others capture ideas you may never have encountered, from horizontal gene transfer to zygotic gene activation. Together they form the vocabulary scientists use to describe how life works, how it began, and how it continues to surprise us.
A yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) is a laboratory-built DNA molecule that replicates in yeast and carries foreign DNA fragments up to one million base pairs for cloning and genome mapping.
Lamarckian evolution proposes that organisms pass traits acquired during their lifetimes to offspring. Epigenetic research has revived aspects of the idea.
Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent woman from whom all living humans inherited their mitochondrial DNA through an unbroken maternal line, a statistical convergence point in human genealogy, not a literal first woman.
A xerophyte is a plant adapted to survive where water is scarce, using structural, metabolic, and behavioral strategies refined over millions of years.
Zymogen activation is the conversion of an inactive enzyme precursor into its active form through proteolytic cleavage, ensuring digestive enzymes activate only at the right location.
A trophic cascade ripples through a food web when predators suppress prey, releasing lower trophic levels from grazing pressure.
Sickle cell trait evolution is the persistence of a hemoglobin mutation in human populations because carriers gain partial protection against malaria, the deadliest infectious disease in history.
A gene drive is a genetic engineering system that biases inheritance so a chosen trait spreads through a wild population faster than Mendelian rules allow.
Horizontal gene transfer moves genetic material between organisms outside parent-to-offspring inheritance, reshaping evolution and spreading antibiotic resistance.
Non-native organisms that harm ecosystems, economies, and health. Over 3,500 species worldwide qualify as harmful invaders.
