CARTA Glossary

A type of white blood cell whose function in the adaptive immune system is to secrete antibodies. Additionally, B-cells present antigens and secrete cytokines. In mammals, B-cells mature in the bone marrow. B-cells express B-cell receptors on their cell membrane, which allow the B-cell to bind to a specific antigen, against which it will initiate an antibody response. These cells can create an almost infinite repertoire through recombination and shuffling.

A type of prokaryotic microorganism. Unlike eukaryotes, bacterial cells do not contain a nucleus and rarely harbour membrane-bound organelles. Bacteria were among the first life forms to evolve on Earth, and can be found in most every habitat, including soil, water, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, the deep biosphere of the earth’s crust, and in and on other living organisms as symbionts and parasites. Bacteria can be beneficial, such as those comprising the gut flora, or pathogenic and cause infectious disease. However, the vast majority of the bacteria in the body are rendered harmless by the protective effects of the immune system.

The maintenance of a genetic polymorphism generated by balancing selection. The MHC system and ABO in humans are examples.

A class of drugs that act as a central nervous system depressant. E.g., Amytal.

A cortical neural progenitor cell which undergoes replication and division. Basal progenitor cells are a subset that lie in the subventricular zone and lack contact with the neighboring ventricle—only contacting the outer, basal, surface—and contribute to the expansion of the outer cortex.

German for “building plan” or “body plan,” it is a generalized set of physical characteristics shared by a group of phylogenetically related organisms during some point in their development.

An overgrowth disorder caused by an imbalance in sex-specific modification of chromosomes and characterized by higher risk of childhood cancer and certain congenital features.

A time scale used in archaeological dating in which the present is considered the year radiocarbon dating was introduced (1950 CE).

Current Homo sapiens, a population of hominins who evolved in Africa 200-100 kya, developed a suite of behavioral and cognitive traits that distinguished them from other hominins in and outside Africa, which likely allowed them to replace all other related hominins across the planet, with some interbreeding but no surviving hybrid species.

Pertaining to both alleles (both alternative forms of a gene).

The coordinated and mutually responsive interaction between individuals, where biological and behavioral rhythms align in a way that enhances communication and connection. This term is often used in the context of caregiver-infant interactions, where both parties’ physiological responses (such as heart rate, breathing patterns, or hormonal levels) and behavioral cues (such as eye contact, facial expressions, or movements) are synchronized.

Types of nitrogen (nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium) that are required by all plants except legumes. Legumes are able to utilize atmospheric N₂ due to their symbiotic association with rhizobia bacteria in their root nodules.

Measurable indicators of a biological condition or process, often used in medicine and research to detect diseases, monitor health, or predict the outcome of treatments. They can be molecules, genes, proteins, or other substances found in blood, urine, tissues, or other bodily fluids, providing information about a person’s health status or risk of disease.

The ability to walk upright on two legs, involving adaptations in the skeletal and muscular systems to support and propel the body using only the lower limbs.

A form of petroleum, a naturally- occurring organic by-product of decomposed plants, that is waterproof and flammable. Prehistoric humans used bitumen as an adhesive for hafting points to spears and for many other tasks and tools. Compare with Birch Tar.

The specific pattern of reaction to antisera within a blood group.

A professional with more than one year of work experience in an appropriate facility who performs the act of body piercing using approved techniques and materials. See also ear-piercing gun operator.

The deliberate alteration of the shape of one or more bones.

A pattern of links between distinct units within the nervous system.

A malignant disease that develops in the breast tissue, typically in the epithelium of the milk ducts or lobules.

A light-based therapy to treat both seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and non-seasonal depression.

A joint collaboration between researchers at Tulane University, University of Maryland, and Boston Children’s Hospital. The study, which began in the fall of 2000, seeks to examine the effects of early institutionalization on brain and behavior development, and to examine the impact of high quality foster care as an intervention for children who have been placed in institutions.

Background: Nicolae Ceausescu, general secretary of the Romanian communist party from 1965-89, instituted pro-natalist policies (banning abortion, outlawing contraception, and imposing a tax on families with fewer than five children) to increase the Romanian population in an effort to create more workers to bolster the economy. Correspondingly, the birth rate climbed but the poor were unable to afford larger families. It became acceptable to give infants and children to state-run child-rearing institutions, which spawned one of the largest per capita orphanage systems in history. By 1989, more than 170,000 Romanian children were living in institutions. Even ten years after the overthrow of Ceausescu, the rate of child abandonment did not diminish.

C₄ Plants: Plants that use a supplementary method of CO₂ uptake to form a four-carbon sugar compound. Photosynthesis in these plants involves the reaction of CO₂ with C₃ phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to form C₄ oxaloacetatic acid (OAA), which is converted into malic acid. Malic acid is then broken down into CO₂ (which enters the Calvin Cycle to form sugars and starch) and pyruvic acid (3-carbon molecule), which is then converted back to PEP. C₄ plants are well adapted for habitats with high daytime temperatures and intense sunlight. The ¹²C/¹³C ratio of C₄ plants is distinct and can be determined from masspectrometry. C4 plants have less ¹²C but more ¹³C compared to C₃ Plants. The ¹³C in C₄ tissue is still less than what naturally occurs in the atmosphere. e.g. Tropical grasses, including crabgrass, corn, sugarcane, sorghum.

A family of New World monkeys

A class of organic compounds composed of two or more fused aromatic rings, some of which are known to be carcinogenic and are formed during incomplete combustion of organic materials.

An acquired or hereditary disease of heart muscle resulting in weakening, enlargement, thickening, or rigidity of the heart.

An organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging.

A build-up of mucus in an airway or body cavity caused by inflammation such as that associated with respiratory illnesses.

Intentional burning to the body to create scars.

A subclass of Siglec receptors that rapidly evolved in humans and do not have true orthologues (counterparts identical by descent) in most mammalian species. For the CD33rSiglecs, it has been more difficult to translate studies in animal models to human conditions.

The majority of the nervous system that consists of the brain, spinal cord, retina, optic nerves, and olfactory epithelium. The CNS integrates sensory information and coordinates and influences the activity of the body in bilaterally symmetric animals (all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish).

The largest part of the brain that contains the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb.

Proteins located in plasma membranes that form a passageway that can open or close to allow or stop the flow of particular ions across the membrane (see also receptor).

A Mayan city in Yucatan that rose to regional prominence after 800 CE.

A RNA virus that belongs to the genus Alphavirus that is primarily transmitted by two species of Aedes mosquitoes, although the virus can also be transmitted from mother to child during delivery. Before 2013, the virus was found only in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific islands. In late 2013, outbreaks occurred for the first time in the Americas in the Caribbean Islands. Chikungunya (pronounced “chik-en-gun-ye”) comes from the Kimadonde verb meaning “bent over in pain” or “contorted.”

One of the two species comprising the genus, Pan, having branched from bonobos ~1 million years ago. Sometimes referred to as “common chimpanzees”. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, chimpanzees are found in and around the Congo Basin (north of the Congo River) and throughout West Africa. Chimpanzees are divided into four subspecies, based on appearance and distribution. Compared to bonobos, chimpanzees are somewhat larger, more aggressive, and exhibit male social dominance.

A bacterial disease causing severe diarrhea and dehydration, usually spread in sewage-contaminated water.

The idea that the 3D conformation of chromatin and the presence or absence of regulatory proteins (and their chemical modifications) interacting with histone proteins or directly with DNA can impact whether or not, and to what level, gene expression occurs.

A disease characterized loss of adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia. Signs include severe polycythemia (increased blood volume occupied by red blood cells) and hypoxemia (lack of oxygenation).

Receptors expressed on a cell surface that bind ligands on the same cell surface.

A branching diagram used to show hypothetical relations among groups of organisms and their hypothetical most common ancestors. It is not an evolutionary tree as it does not show how ancestors are related to descendants, nor does it show evolutionary distance or time.

The cutting and removal of all or part of the externally protruding glans of the clitoris. Also called Type 1 female genital modification. See also, excision.

The process by which soluble proteins in blood crosslink to cause a change from liquid to gel, forming a clot. Also known as coagulation.

Models evolution backward in time to infer historical population size, mutation rate, allele age, and allele frequency change by selection and drift.

Collective violence or violence between groups of individuals.

A type of short rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria. Some species of coccobacillus cause disease in humans.

A sequence of three nucleotides along a DNA or RNA chain encoding a single amino acid, and start or stop.