Glossary of Scientific Terms

B

Bacteria
Single cell organisms and most prevalent form of life on Earth. Bacteria are also known as prokaryotes (together with archaea; formerly archaebacteria) referring to the single compartment inside the cell and missing a membrane delineated cell nucleus found in all eukaryotes. Examples are Escherichia coli (E.coli), Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhi), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tuberculosis), or Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori).

Bad cholesterol
See Cholesterol, Lipoprotein.

Bile
The digestive juice released from liver (stored in gall bladder) into the digestive tract to help solubilize and absorb fat soluble nutrients. Bile contains bile acids, biochemical derivatives of cholesterol. Bile acids serve as intestinal detergents for the proper homogenization and uptake (absorption) of dietary lipids.

Biodegradable
A property of molecules or chemicals that refers to their usefulness as food because they can be metabolized (metabolism) by organism.

Bioelectricity
The term bioelectricity refers to the use of charged molecules and elements (= ions) in biological systems. The movement and placement of charges has a great influence on molecular interactions between molecules and thus affects structure and function of proteins, DNA, and cell membranes. The latter are able to stabilize local charge separation in form of ion gradients which are a form of energy storage but also serve as information processing device (see action potential).

Biological value (of proteins)
The biological value of a protein refers to the how much of the nitrogen content of food is retained by the body. The biological value of proteins ranges from 50 to 100 percent and is a measure of how much dietary protein source can support growth. Animal proteins have biological values of 70 percent or higher, and plant proteins have biological values of 50 to 70.

Biopharming
A new filed in agriculture using recombinant DNA technology to introduce genes into plants or livestock for the purpose of expressing a drug or nutrient in quantities not found in nature. Biopharming may be used to produce antibodies in cow milk or hormones in plant leaves or seeds for easy harvesting. The plant or animal serves as a natural bioreactor and has become a genetically modified organism in the process.

Biotechnology
Application in biology to manipulate the structure and function of biological systems into forms not found in nature. Often used to improve or facilitate cellular processes such as energy metabolism, gene transfer between unrelated species, or the engineering of enzymes for the large scale synthesis of drugs.