Biology Vocabulary

3. expression - the process by which the information encoded in a gene is used to direct the assembly of a protein molecule.
4. - a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
5. - the smallest unit that can live on its own and that makes up all living organisms and the tissues of the body.
6. - a biological compound used by multicellular organisms to organize, coordinate, and control the functions of their cells and tissues.
10. - that molecule that binds to a specific protein, and regulates the latter's biological activity.
11. - the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes.
12. - anything that produces a response in an organism or in a cell or tissue of an organism.
13. - a response within a system that influences the continued activity or productivity of that system.
15. Variation - any difference between cells, individual organisms, or groups of organisms of any species caused either by genetic differences or by the effect of environmental factors on the expression of the genetic potentials.
16. equilibrium - the tendency of an organism or a cell to regulate its internal conditions
17. - any living biological entity, such as an animal, plant, fungus, or bacterium.
18. - an organism causing disease to its host, with the severity of the disease symptoms referred to as virulence.

1. - can be thought of as the “command center” of the endocrine system.
2. - A molecule inside or on the surface of a cell that binds to a specific substance and causes a specific effect in the cell.
5. center - the body structure that determines the normal range of the variable, or set point.
7. - an organism composed of many cells, which are to varying degrees integrated and independent.
8. feedback - a process in which the end products of an action cause more of that action to occur in a feedback loop.
9. mechanisms - a physiological regulation system in a living body that works to return the body to its normal internal state.
10. - a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.
14. feedback - a self-regulatory system in which it feeds back to the input a part of a system's output so as to reverse the direction of change of the output.