Biological and Chemical Substance Terms

A substance made by the parathyroid gland that helps the body store and use calcium.

A substance made by the parathyroid gland that helps the body store and use calcium.

A substance made by the parathyroid gland that helps the body store and use calcium.

A family of DNA repair enzymes whose blockade kills cancer cells that have already lost their other way of mending breaks.

A signal released when a vessel is torn, telling repair cells to multiply and move toward the damage.

Where a peptide stops and a protein starts is a matter of convention, not chemistry: the bond and the building blocks are identical.

A greasy blend of mineral waxes and oils that seals water into the skin rather than adding any moisture itself.

Short-lived local messengers built from a fatty acid, and the molecules that ordinary painkillers work by shutting down.

The tartness in a cola, the etching gel at a dental appointment, and part of the backbone holding every DNA strand together.

A substance found in many foods that come from plants, including corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans, and in large amounts in cereals and legumes.

Whether they act like estrogen or against it depends on how much of the real hormone is already in circulation.

A substance found in plants that causes red blood cells to clump together and certain white blood cells to divide.

A chemical substance that comes from plants and is used to make vitamins E and K.

One element with two unrelated medical jobs: the core of a chemotherapy family, and a corrosion proof metal inside implanted devices.

A synthetic RNA that imitates a virus, used to rouse the immune system rather than to attack anything directly.

A stretch of synthetic double-stranded RNA carrying no message at all, built solely to look to the body like a virus.

The soot chemicals made whenever something organic burns badly, and among the first substances ever shown to cause cancer.

A fatty acid containing more than one double bond (C=C).

A strong alkali used to make soap, and in the laboratory to dissolve skin so that fungus can be seen under a microscope.

A hormone that mostly tells the pancreas to stop, released once a meal is under way and rising as the body ages.