Glossary
- Activator
- A protein that positively regulates transcription, usually by binding near the promoter and physically interacting with RNA polymerase to increase its activity.
- Activation
- See Positive regulation.
- Aliquot
- A small volume taken from a larger sample.
- BioBrick
- DNA that conforms to a specified assembly standard, usually by flanking the DNA parts with particular restriction sites.
- Cell density
- The number of cells in a given volume.
- Central dogma
- A unifying idea in molecular biology regarding the flow of information from genetic code to physical trait, which states that DNA encodes RNA that specifies protein sequence.
- Chassis
- The housing for a system. This term often refers to the cellular host when used in the field of synthetic biology.
- Coding Sequence (CDS)
- See Open reading frame (ORF).
- Codon
- Three contiguous nucleotides that code for a specific amino acid or stop signal in an open reading frame.
- Competent
- Describes a state in which cells can accept DNA from their environment.
- Consensus sequence
- The most frequent pattern of nucleotides found for a particular DNA part throughout a genome or many genomes.
- Constitutive
- A function that is always “on,” in contrast to a function that is sometimes “on” and sometimes “off.”
- Culture
- To grow cells in the lab.
- Downstream
- A DNA sequence that is positioned 3’ relative to another DNA sequence.
- Emergent behavior
- An unexpected characteristic resulting from altering or recombining components of a complex system. ...
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