Self And The Phenomenon Of Life: A Biologist Examines Life From Molecules To Humanity

352 Self and the Phenomenon of Life

b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”

to each amino acid. Proteins that occur in nature are made up of twenty

different kinds of amino acids, all of the “L” variety.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (AARS): An enzyme that attaches an amino acid

to its corresponding tRNA.

Amnesia: Loss of memory. There are different ways to classify amnesia, such as

retrograde versus anterograde in relation to the traumatic event; transient

versus permanent with respect to the duration of the amnesia; and focal

versus global with respect to the content of loss.

Amygdala: A deep brain structure (gray matter) in the medial temporal lobe.

A major emotional center involved in fear, anger, and aggression.

Archaea: Single-celled microorganisms without a nucleus (prokaryotes); similar

to but more advance than bacteria; usually thrive in extreme environments.

ATP: see Adenosine triphosphate.

Autograft: Transplanting a tissue within the same individual.

Autonomic nervous system: The part of the nervous system that is not under

voluntary control. It regulates the internal organs (heart, lung, stomach,

intestine, etc.), along with blood vessels to muscles and glands. It consists of

two components, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.

Axon: A long process extending from the neuronal cell body that conducts

nerve impulse (action potential) away from the cell. Each neuron contains

only one axon.

B lymphocytes (B cells): Lymphocytes that are capable of producing anti-

bodies.

Base pairing: In nucleic acids, the linking of A to T and G to C through hydro-

gen bonding.

Blood groups: antigenic properties of red blood cells that can elicit transfusion

reaction. Human blood is divided into four categories: A, B, AB, and O.

CaMKII: Calcium-calmodulin kinase II. An enzyme important in the post-

synaptic mechanism of learning.

CAT scan: Stands for computerized axial tomography (also known as CT scan).

A non-invasive imaging technique providing virtual “slices” of an organ such as

the brain by computer processing serial X-ray images taken at different angles.

Central Dogma: A principle in molecular biology stating that the information

in DNA is transmitted to another DNA or to a messenger RNA, which in

turn is transmitted only to a protein. There are exceptions to this principle.

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