Ch. 2 Science Vocab
Terms
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- virus
- a tiny, nonliving particle that invades and then reproduces inside a living cell
- host
- an organism that provides a source of energy or a suitable environment for a virus or another organism to live
- parasite
- an organism that lives on or in a host and causes harm to the host
- bacteriophage
- a virus that infects bacteria
- bacteria
- single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus; prokaryotes
- cytoplasm
- the region of a cell located inside the cell membrane (in prokaryotes) or between the cell membrane and nucleus (in eukaryotes); contains a gel-like material and cell structures
- ribosome
- a tiny structure located in the cytoplasm of a cell where proteins are produced
- flagellum
- a long, whiplike structure that helps a cell to move
- respiration
- the process of breaking down food to release its energy
- binary fission
- a form of asexual reproduction in which one cell divides to form two identical cells
- asexual reproduction
- a reproductive process that involves only one parent and produces offspring that are identical to the parent
- sexual reproduction
- a reproductive process that involves two parents that combine their genetic material to produce a new organism which differs from both parents
- conjugation
- the process in which a unicellular organism transfers some of its genetic material to another unicellular organism
- endospore
- a small, rounded, thick-walled, resting cell that forms inside a bacterial cell
- pasteurization
- a process of heating food to a temperature that is high enough to kill most harmful bacteria without changing the taste of the food
- decomposer
- an organism that breaks down chemicals from dead organisms and returns important materials to the soil and water
- infectious disease
- an illness that can pass from one organism to another
- toxin
- a poison that can harm an organism
- antibiotic
- a chemical that can kill bacteria without harming a person's cells
- antibiotic resistance
- the ability of bacteria to withstand the effects of an antibiotic
- vaccine
- a substance introduced into the body to stimulate the production of chemicals that destroy specific disease-causing viruses and organisms