biomedical science: unit 1.1 vocabulary

biomedical science

a professional field combining biology and medicine with a focus on healthcare

metacognition

the mental process that learners use to understand and monitor their learning

experiment

a research study conducted to understand an observed phenomenon; determines the effect that one variable has upon another variable

hypothesis

a statement predicting the anticipated results of an experiment

experimental design

a process used to carefully plan experiments in order to investigate scientific questions or problems

iterative

repeating a series of steps over and over until the desired outcome is obtained

trace evidence

tiny fragments of physical evidence, such as hairs, fibers from clothing or carpeting, and pieces of glass

forensic science

the application of scientific knowledge to resolve questions of civil and criminal law

hemoglobin

a protein found in red blood cells that transports oxygen

antigen

anything that stimulates an immune response

positive control

in an experiment, the group that the researcher expects to have a positive result, to show that the experimental setup was capable of producing results

negative control

in an experiment, the group in which the conditions produce a negative outcome. Negative control groups help identify outside influences that were not accounted for when the procedure was created

abo system

a system of four types (A, AB, B, and O) which human blood is classified into, based on the presence or absence of certain antigens

antibody

A protein produced by immune cells in the blood that works to impair pathogens

aggluination

the clumping of particles

independent variable

in an experiment, the variable that the researcher intentionally changes to determine its influence on the dependent variable

dependent variable

in an experiment, the variable being measured and whose value is influenced by another variable

standard curve

a graph that plots known values which then allows the same properties to be determined for unknown samples by interpolation on the graph

deoxyribonucleic acid (dna)

a type of double-stranded nucleic acid consisting of nucleotide monomers with the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)

protein

a three-dimensional molecule made of many amino acids. A protein's form and function are determined by a cell's nucleic acid sequence

nucleotide

a building block of DNA that consists of a sugar that is covalently bonded to a nitrogenous base and a phosphate

helix

a three-dimensional spiral

cell

the smallest unit of life

organelle

tiny structures that perform a function in a cell. Functions can include: producing energy, housing DNA, packaging proteins, etc…

eukaryotic cell

cells that have membrane-bound organelles

prokaryotic cell

cells that lack membrane-bound organelles

histone

a protein that DNA winds around to condense into a chromosome

restriction fragment length polymorphisms (rflps)

fragments of DNA that have been cut by restriction enzymes and are various lengths. The variations in length are due to differences in each organism's DNA sequence

accuracy

how close a measurement is to the true or accepted value

precision

the degree to which repeated measurements show the same result