Search

A definition of the term "environmental tobacco smoke" is presented. It refers to a composite sidestream smoke and the smoke exhaled by a smoker. Sidestream smoke is the material released into the air from the burning tip of the cigarette together with the material that diffuses through the paper.

A definition of the term "sidestream smoke" is presented. It refers to the material which diffuses through the paper plus the material released into the air from the burning tip of the cigarette.

A definition of the term "endoplasmic reticulum" is presented. It refers to a highly convoluted sheet of membranes, extending from the outer layer of the nuclear envelope into the cytoplasm. These membrane organelles sort and modify proteins that are either secreted from the cell or become integrated into the plasma membrane.

A definition of the term "endometrium" is presented, which refers to the epithelial cells that line the uterus.

A definition of the term "enhancer element" is presented, referring to a cis-acting sequence that increases the utilization of eukaryotic promoters and can function in either orientation and in any location relative to the promoter.

A definition of the term "endosomal compartment" is presented. It refers to a complex set of vesicles and tubules, of various sizes, extending from the cell periphery to the peri-nuclear region. The endosomal compartment during the endocytic process is the place where the ligand is dissociated from the receptor.

A definition of the term "complementary DNA" is presented. It is also known as copy DNA and cDNA. complementary DNA refers to a double-stranded DNA copied from RNA by RNA-directed DNA polymerase. The key enzyme in the life cycle of RNA viruses is reverse transcriptase and it is widely used in gene technology.

A definition of the term "comet assay" is presented. It is also called the single cell gel assay and is considered as one of the fastest-applied techniques in the cancer world, as well as in other areas. It is a technique that is used to monitor DNA damage and repair at the level of single cells. It can be used to analyze genotoxic effects where there are low cell numbers.

A definition of the term "colony hybridization" is presented. It refers to a technique that uses in situ hybridization to identify bacteria carrying chimeric vectors whose inserted DNA is homologous with a particular sequence.

A definition of the term "tobacco carcinogenesis" is presented. It refers to the study of cancer that is induced by tobacco products. The relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer can illustrate the mechanism by which tobacco causes cancer. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 30 percent of all cancer deaths involve tobacco smokers. The chemistry of tobacco smoke is discussed.

A definition of the term "Ras transformation targets," as used in cancer terminology, is presented. It refers to a set of genes deregulated by the expression of oncogenic Ras proteins. Target genes mediate the initiation of malignant transformation in normal cells and tissues and/or maintain the biological properties of cancer cells.

An encyclopedia entry for "colon cancer" is presented. Colon cancer also refers to cancer of the large intestine and malignant neoplastic changes of the colon. There are a number of colon cancer screening strategies for the average risk population including fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy and double contrast barium enema.

The article presents an encyclopedia entry for "chemotherapy of cancer." Cancer chemotherapy refers to the use of small molecules that damage proliferating cells. It refers to systemic treatment in contrast to radiotherapy and surgery that represent local treatment. Together with hormone therapy and immunotherapy, cancer chemotherapy is designed to treat and ideally eradicate metastatic cancer.

A definition of the term "Wilms Tumour" is presented. It refers to a childhood embryonal cancer of the kidney. The name of the disease was derived from the name of German physician Max Wilms. The term was originally used to other types of childhood kidney cancer including clear cell sarcoma of kidney and malignant rhabdoid tumor of kidney.

A definition of the term "shotgun experiment" is presented. It refers to the cloning of an entire genome in the form of randomly generated fragments.

A definition of the term "sialoglycoconjugates," which refers to sugar chains terminally modified by an acidic sugar like sialic acid, is presented.

A definition of the term "shuttle vector" is presented. It refers to a plasmid constructed to have origins of replication for two hosts, such as Escherichia coli and S. cerevisiae, so that it can be used to carry a foreign sequence in either prokaryotes or eukaryotes.