Glossary

Management

Materials Handling Equipment

Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (Japan)

Unit of measurement for conductance; the reciprocal of ohm (resistance).

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Megahertz

A bubble formed by a detergent in water; the hydrophobic end of each molecule is turned inward, and the hydrophilic end is turned outward, forming a membrane between the water outside and whatever is inside the micelle.

Sets of miniaturized chemical reaction areas that may also be used to test DNA fragments.

A new way of studying how large numbers of genes interact with each other and how a cell's regulatory networks control vast batteries of genes simultaneously. The method uses a robot to precisely apply tiny droplets containing functional DNA to glass slides. Researchers then attach fluorescent labels to DNA from the cell they are studying. The labeled probes are allowed to bind to complementary DNA strands on the slides. The slides are put into a scanning microscope that can measure the brightness of each fluorescent dot; brightness reveals how much of a specific DNA fragment is present, an indicator of how active it is.

A microscopic one-celled organism, animal, or vegetable; a microorganism.

The study of genes and gene function in bacteria and other microorganisms. Often used in research in the fields of bioremediation, alternative energy, and disease prevention.

The study of microscopic life such as bacteria and viruses.

A microscopic particle (often, a 200µm polymer bead) that supports cell attachment and growth in suspension culture.

Permanent memory that holds the elementary circuit operations a computer must perform for each instruction in its instruction set.

A term used to describe a small computer.

Surrounded by a thin, protective layer of biodegradable substance referred to as microsphere.

The molecules and compounds such as nutrients and growth factors in the fluid surrounding a cell in an organism or in the laboratory, which are important in determining the characteristics of the cell.

A method of sterile filtration, clarification, or cell harvesting that removes particles in the 0.1-10.0 µm range.

A unit of mass equal to one thousandth (10¯³) of a milligram or one millionth (10¯6) of a gram.

Slight differences in the amino acid sequence of a protein. For example, to produce a recombinant protein in E. coli, a methionine (met) must be added to one end of the protein sequence to act as a signal that initiates protein synthesis. In most cases, that met is removed once the protein is made. Sometimes the met is removed for only some of the molecules. The purified product is then a mixture of a protein with the native sequence plus the extra amino acid.

A unit of length equal to one millionth of an inch (0.000001 inches), or equal to 0.0254 micrometer.

Manually using tiny needles to inject microscopic material (such as DNA) directly into cells or cell nuclei; computer screens provide a magnified view.

Movement of chemicals into, out of, and within the cell.

A measure of conductance equal to one millionth of a mho.

The same as a micrometer or 1000th of a millimeter. The typical particle size of importance in deionized water is less than 0.2 µm (micrometers).