bio-, bi-, -bia, -bial, -bian, -bion, -biont, -bius, -biosis, -bium, -biotic, -biotical +

That part of biology that includes organogeny, morphology, and physiology.

1. A plant that feeds on other living organisms.
2. A parasitic or predatory plant; or plants that get sustenance from living organisms.

A reference to a plant consuming living organisms.

1. Biological theft; illegal collection of indigenous plants, microbes, enzymes, etc. by corporations who patent them for their own commercial use.
2. The commercial development of naturally occurring biological materials; such as, plant substances or genetic cell lines, by a technologically advanced country or organization without fair compensation to the peoples or nations in whose territory the materials were originally discovered.

The patenting of plants, genes, and other biological products that are indigenous to a foreign country; for example, some developing tropical nations are saying that if the West cries foul over piracy of intellectual property or computer software, then biopiracy in Western labs of jungle extracts should also be considered a high economic crime.

Biopiracy usually refers to the privatization and unauthorized use of biological resources by entities (including corporations, universities, and governments) outside of a country that has pre-existing knowledge. This privatization and use is sometimes claimed to be predatory. Particular activities usually covered by the term are: Exclusive commercial rights to plants, animals, organs, microorganisms, and genes; as well as, commercialization of traditional communities' knowledge on biological resources; and patenting of biological resources.

Here is a biopiracy article that presents an example of this topic.

Resources from Kenyan Lake Bogoria is a current biopiracy issue.

Protoplasm, especially in its relation to living processes and development.

Protoplasm is the viscid, translucent, polyphasic colloid with water as the continuous phase that makes up the essential material of all plant and animal cells.

Singapore, with its Biopolis project, is pulling in top biomedical scientists because "what's going on over there is amazing. There's plenty of funding and a lot less bureaucracy." Moreover, "In the U.S. the state government says, Let's do one thing, while the Federal Government is trying to stamp it out." Singapore, by contrast, has a single set of reasonably permissive regulations.

A functional independent mass of living protoplasm.

1. The (hypothetical) origin or evolution of living or lifelike structures from lifeless matter; abiogenesis.
2. The origin of life, including the abiotic synthesis of macromolecular systems and the transformation (eobiogenesis) of these systems into the first living organisms (eobionts).
3. The origin of organisms from replicating molecules.

The origin of life from inorganic matter.

Primarily used to refer to theories about the chemical origin of life; such as, from a primordial sea, and most probably through a number of intermediate steps; such as, non-living but self-replicating molecules.

An integrated network of life-science research centers and biotech start-ups located in Singapore.

A collective term for polluting agents that are living organisms, or the products of organisms; such as, airborne microorganisms, inflammatory agents (endotoxins), and indoor allergens; such as, house-dust mites.

1. A macromolecule occurring in a living organism such as a protein, a polysaccharide, or a nucleic acid.
2. Biodegradable polymer produced by living organisms; for example, polysaccharide gums (xanthans) produced by the bacterium Xanthomonas.
3. A polymer found in nature; for example, starch, proteins and peptides, and DNA and RNA.

The capability of or extent to which a chemical substance, such as a hormone, acts within a biological system.

The quiescent form of energy in biological material before it is transformed into an active state that results in the manifestations of life.

1. Any method for producing commercially useful biological material.
2. A method or operation of preparing a biological material; especially, a product of genetic engineering, for commercial use.

If you would like to take a series of self-scoring quizzes over some of the words in this bio- unit, then click this Bio-Quiz link so you can check your knowledge. You may also try several additional quizzes in this listing.