23
votes
Accepted
Explaining "paraphyly" for the layperson?
These are terms to describe names we give things that don't really follow phylogeny accurately. Fish, for example - a monophyletic group involving fish would include humans, too, yet there are many ...
- 39.9k
21
votes
Accepted
What does rescue mean in the context of biological experiments?
"Rescue" in an experimental context means you're capable of undoing some experimental manipulation. It's considered evidence towards identifying a causal mechanism or verifying that your ...
- 39.9k
14
votes
Explaining "paraphyly" for the layperson?
One very simple example that most people are familiar with is the vernacular use of "animal". Most people recognize that humans are animals and more closely related to other animals than ...
- 521
9
votes
Animal specific names with non-alphabetic characters
Short Answer
Very few hyphenated specific epithets (i.e., species' names) exist due to the regulatory body (the ICZN) that governs the nomenclature code for animals. The code has multiple rules ...
- 28.5k
8
votes
Accepted
What's the term for "Amino acid regulating the expression of components used to synthesize it"?
The method of inhibition of the operation an anabolic metabolic pathway by the final product synthesized is called:
End-product Inhibition or Feedback Inhibition
Of more biochemical interest is the ...
- 23.3k
7
votes
Accepted
What does "sect." mean?
Section, a taxonomic level. In plants it's a possible level between genus and species.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_(biology) as the term is used differently in zoology.
- 39.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Scientific terms for front-brain, mid-brain and back-brain
Since you are working with 3D data, why not segment them into lobes? You have 4: frontal (front), occipital (back), temporal (lateral middle) and parietal (top middle) lobes. If you really must have ...
- 6,124
6
votes
Explaining "paraphyly" for the layperson?
I put some comments further up, but if I was teaching this, my first attempt would be to "acknowledge the absurdity" - basically, that these groups clearly don't, according to the genetics, ...
- 161
5
votes
What does rescue mean in the context of biological experiments?
I suggest that "rescue" is an informal term used in the place of "complementation" in a genetics context. For example, that wiki page has a sentence that reads:
Another exception ...
- 8,528
5
votes
Accepted
What does "run" mean in DNA sequencing?
Each run is simply each time a reaction/process is performed, though usually applied to something that is performed on a machine or device that does the "running" - so you could do ...
- 8,974
5
votes
Accepted
What does ‘per DNA fragment’ mean?
They are referring to sequencing strategies where you chop a longer stretch of DNA into fragments, sequence each of these, and stitch the sequences back together.
The sentence is explaining that the ...
- 39.9k
5
votes
Accepted
What's the terminology for the deformity between the halluces and index toes caused by sandals?
This is sometimes called a "sandal gap." See here.
Gap between the 1st and 2nd toes (sandal gap).
The above NIH link lists 58 known conditions with this feature+.
...
Other sources ...
- 28.5k
5
votes
Explaining "paraphyly" for the layperson?
To answer your specific questions
But why not just make the blue area a full blue triangle to make the
prosimii and simiiformes one triangle/group? In the end, we all share
the same ancestor, so I ...
- 13.8k
4
votes
Scientific terms for front-brain, mid-brain and back-brain
Short Answer
Anteroventricular coronal segment
Paraventricular coronal segment
Posteroventricular coronal segment
Long Answer
As indicated by @AliceD in the comments, I'm not sure there are ...
- 28.5k
4
votes
Accepted
What is a random piece of DNA called?
If you were to literally chemically remove a piece, as with restriction enzymes or physical disruption, that would be a "fragment".
If you just mean a focal region of a genome, then "...
- 8,528
4
votes
Accepted
What is meant by "Common descent"?
The Wikipedia definition is suitable to say that species 1 and 3 share common descent.
Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more ...
- 1,826
3
votes
Accepted
Do we need to underline the name of a gene while handwriting?
Handwriting and notes
How you handwrite is totally up to you. No important information in research science is disseminated widely with the use of handwriting anymore; whatever the conventions were, ...
- 6,124
3
votes
Accepted
Additional to SNP (variant) calling, what is genotype calling in human genome?
The quote isn't a very helpful or accurate one, I'm not really sure where you got it but I can appreciate how it may be confusing.
For all intents and purposes genotype calling and variant calling are ...
- 2,226
3
votes
What is the technical term for a combination-mouth-anus?
The mouth.
This is sometimes referred to as the hypostome (most sources, though Wikipedia disagrees). It is usually muscular.
The Pharynx.
This is the muscular part of the tube leading to the gut ...
- 1,556
3
votes
Accepted
Examples of subvarieties and forms in botany or other biological nomenclature?
Binomial nomenclature is the name for the formal naming of species in "Genus species" form. Genus species should always be a unique identifier (also see Are All Taxonomic Groups Uniquely ...
- 39.9k
2
votes
Difference between in cis/in trans and in phase/out of phase
Unless there are other meanings of the terms I'm not aware of, they are referring to slightly different things.
Haplotype 'phase' refers to whether alleles are found on the same chromosome (paternal ...
- 2,226
2
votes
Accepted
meaning of the name "Dictyostelium discoideum"
I think your analysis is correct.
Dictyostelium generally means net-like pillar. Dictyo references a net or mesh, and stele originates from the Greek stēlē: to stand or pillar. However, as you point ...
- 1,826
2
votes
What is the technical term for a combination-mouth-anus?
If an organism has a single pore for both ingestion and excretion then it is known as incomplete digestive system. Primitive organisms like Platyhelminthes (flatworms), Ctenophora (comb jellies), and ...
- 1,059
2
votes
Accepted
gene dosage vs copy number
They don't always mean the same thing, as gene dosage may be measured by RNA-Seq, whereas copy number by DNA sequencing / other means. But people do use it as rough substitutes. Often people do try to ...
- 244
1
vote
Is there a term to designate the property for an enzyme of catalyzing several reactions from the same substrate?
There is a problem with the nomenclature of enzymes that catalyse more than one reaction because they fall into (at least) two structural types. One can refer to both of them as:
multi-functional ...
- 23.3k
1
vote
What is meant by "Common descent"?
B is the ancestor of 1,2 and 3. Why do you think that is not an example of common descent between 1 and 3?
- 5,080
1
vote
Examples of subvarieties and forms in botany or other biological nomenclature?
The rules may be different for zoological names, but for botanical names:
Is it always genus species [possibly one deeper]?
This is governed by the International ...
- 1,826
1
vote
Terminology for Transgenes
Yes, I would change to a different terminology. I would not apply the word 'allele', which would be confusing/misleading at best. Even if the transgene is an allele taken from an organism, I would ...
- 109
1
vote
Accepted
What is the difference between ‘classical’ and ‘non-classical’ pathogen resistance genes in plants?
I edited to reflect that the reference is to classic genes rather than to classic immunity.
Note that this is not a formal definition but rather an informal way of talking about the state of the ...
- 8,528
1
vote
Name for fluid that leaks out of phyllid (non-vascular) plants?
I don't know of a name for the external water, but the process of plant water loss is called "transpiration", the evaporation of water from the tissues of a plant.
Note that the phenomena ...
- 1,826
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