| CVA | cardiovascular accident; cerebrovascular accident; chronic villous arthritis; common variable agamma... |
|---|---|
| CVH | cerebroventricular hemorrhage; cervicovaginal hood; combined ventricular hypertrophy; common variabl... |
| CVI | cardiovascular incident; cardiovascular insufficiency; cerebrovascular incident; cerebrovascular ins... |
| CVID | common variable immunodeficiency |
| E(X) | expected value of the random variable X |
| immunoglobulin variable region | That region of the immunoglobulin (antibody) molecule that varies in its amino acid sequence and composition, confers the antigenic specificity, and is thought to comprise the binding site for the antigen. It is located at the n-terminus of the fab fragment of the immunoglobulin. It includes hypervariable and framework regions, vh family subgroups, and the complementarity-determining region. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| independent variable | A characteristic being measured or observed that is hypothesised to influence another event or manifestation (the dependent variable) within a defined area of relationships under study; that is, the independent variable is not influenced by the event or manifestation, but may cause it or contribute to its variation. See: dependent variable. (05 Mar 2000) |
| intermediate variable | A variable in a causal pathway that causes variation in the dependent variable and is itself caused to vary by the independent variable. (05 Mar 2000) |
| intervening variable | An event, such as an attitude or emotion, inferred to occur within an organism between the stimulation and response in such a way as to influence or determine the response. (05 Mar 2000) |
| allelic gene | See: allele, dominance of traits. (05 Mar 2000) |
| antibiotic resistance gene | Genes in a microorganism which confer resistance to antibiotics, for example by coding for enzymes which destroy it, by coding for surface proteins which prevent it from entering the microorganism, or by being a mutant form of the antibiotic's target so that it can ignore it. (09 Oct 1997) |
| autosomal gene | A gene located on any chromosome other than the sex chromosomes (X or Y). (05 Mar 2000) |
| bicoid gene | A group of genes which are important to the proper development of the head and thorax in the embryo of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. (09 Oct 1997) |
| BRCA1 breast cancer susceptibility gene | This mutated (changed) version of the BRCA1 gene makes a person susceptible to developing breast cancer. (12 Dec 1998) |
| calcitonin gene-related peptide | <protein> A second product transcribed from the calcitonin gene. Calcitonin gene related peptide is found in a number of tissues including nervous tissue. It is a vasodilator that may participate in the cutaneous triple response. It is a neuropeptide of 37 amino acids with structural homology to salmon calcitonin. Co-localises with substance P in neurons. It occurs as a result of alternative processing of mRNA from the calcitonin gene. The neuropeptide is widely distributed in neural tissue of the brain, gut, perivascular nerves, and other tissue. The peptide produces multiple biological effects and has both circulatory and neurotransmitter modes of action. In particular, it is a potent endogenous vasodilator. Intracerebral administration leads to a rise in noradrenergic sympathetic outflow, a rise in blood pressure and a fall in gastric secretion. Acronym: CGRP (05 May 2002) |
| cancer susceptibility gene | tumour suppressor gene |
| rab gene | 1. <molecular biology> One of the three main groups of ras like genes specifying small GTP-binding proteins (the others are ras and rho). Rab proteins are involved in vesicular traffic and seem to control translocation from donor to acceptor membranes. 2. <cell biology> Gene family in plants responsive to abscisic acid: encode proteins of 15-17 kD. (18 Nov 1997) |
| pair rule gene | <molecular biology> A segmentation gene, expressed sequentially between gap genes and segment polarity genes. In development of Drosophila, a set of about 8 genes that are expressed only in alternate segments (odd or even) of the developing embryo. Loss of function mutants thus lack alternate segments. Examples: even skipped (eve), fushi tarazu (ftz), hairy. (18 Nov 1997) |
| gap gene | <molecular biology> Segmentation genes involved in specifying relatively coarse subdivisions of the embryo. They are expressed sequentially in development between egg polarity genes and pair rule genes. In Drosophila, there are at least three such genes, for example Kruppel. (18 Nov 1997) |
| gene | <cell biology, molecular biology> Originally defined as the physical unit of heredity, it is probably best defined as the unit of inheritance that occupies a specific locus on a chromosome, the existence of which can be confirmed by the occurrence of different allelic forms. Genes are formed from DNA, carried on the chromosomes and are responsible for the inherited characteristics that distinguish one individual from another. Each human individual has an estimated 100,000 separate genes. Given the occurrence of split genes, it might be redefined as the set of DNA sequences (exons) that are required to produce a single polypeptide. (09 Oct 1997) |