bio- 或 bi-
pref.（前缀）
语源
pref.（前缀）
- Life; living organism:
生命；生物：
biome.
生物群体 - Biology; biological:
生物学；生物学的：
biophysics.
生物物理学
语源
- Greek
希腊语 - from bios [life] * see g wei-
源自 bios [生命] *参见 g wei-
bio- or (before a vowel) bi-
combining form
indicating or involving life or living organisms
⇒
biogenesis
⇒
biolysis
indicating a human life or career
⇒
biography
⇒
biopic
Origin
from Greek bios lifebio-
Word Origin
1
a combining form meaning “life” occurring in loanwords from Greek (biography); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (bioluminescence).
Also, especially before a vowel, bi-.
Origin
combining form of Greek bíos life; akin to Latin vīvus living, Sanskrit jīvas. See quick
Related Words
- biocenosis
- biotope
- abiotrophy
- anabiosis
- bioacoustics
- bioactivity
bio-a word element meaning 'life', 'living things', as in biology.
[Greek, combining form of bios life]bio-
⇨ see bi-
⇨ see bi-
bio-
combining form
- of or relating to life表示“（与）生命（有关）的”：
-
biosynthesis.
- ■ biological; relating to biology表示“生物学的”：
-
biohazard.
- ■ of living beings表示“生物的”：
-
biogenesis.
- ■ relating to or involving the use of toxic biological or biochemical substances as weapons of war表示“使用生物或生化武器的”：
-
bioterrorism.
词源
from Greek bios '（course of ） human life'. The sense is extended in modern scientific usage to mean 'organic life'.
1912 H. C. Wood in Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. LIX. 1433/2The underlying principle of physiologic standardization, or as those engaged in this work prefer to call it, the bio⁓assay, is to determine the quantity of a given sample of drug required to produce some easily recognizable effect on a lower animal.
Ibid. 1434/1The bio-assay must be acknowledged as a great step forward in the direction of accuracy in our materia medica.
1939 Nature 8 July 76/2 A bioassay on the isolated benzoate..gave an 80 per cent response in a group of ten mice, each receiving a single dose of 0·5 γ in nut oil.
1955 New Biol. XIX. 52The suitability of an inbred strain of mice for the bio-assay of oestrogens.
1961 Flight LXXIX. 344/2 American bio⁓astronautic activities.
1957 N.Y. TimesMag. 20 Oct. 12/1The third phase has a wholly new name, ‘bioastronautics’—the study of man's capabilities and needs, and the means of meeting those needs, for travel in outer space.
1959 H. Strughold in Space Weapons 136Space medicine..can..be considered a branch of the more general field which we call ‘bioastronautics’, the investigation of every aspect of life in the universe, as it may be encountered by men from this planet in the future.
1809 Southey Lett. (1856) II. 162This collectanea may be formed into a biobibliographical and critical account.
1880 Athenæum 25 Dec. 845/3 One more instalment will complete the biobibliographical part.
1959 L. M. Harrod Librarians'Gloss. (ed. 2) 39Biobibliography, a bibliography which contains brief biographical details about the authors.
1944 D. L. Fox in Science C. 470/2From the standpoint of the biochemist..concerned with the metabolic significance of natural coloring matters, the designation of these by a discriminating scientific term has long been desirable. In response to an inquiry, Dr. George M. Calhoun..suggested to the writer the descriptive and self-explanatory term biochrome, with an adjective biochromatic (biochromic is perhaps preferable), and a collective noun biochromy. [ in a personal communication, 1936]
Ibid. 471/1Biochromes..possess two chief characteristics in common, i.e., their origin and occurrence in living organisms and their reflection of a fundamental chemical property, the selective absorption of light waves in the visible spectrum.
Ibid. ,Our present understanding of the parts played by..biochromic compounds in the metabolic economy of organisms leaves much to be desired.
1954 Sci. News XXXIV. 91probably serve in this role, as well as a biochrome, in insects. [ Porphyrins]
1917 Chem. Abstr. 3283 (title)Effect of acids and salts on ‘bio-colloids’.
Ibid. ,An extension of the tests..was made to include mixts. of the ‘bio-colloid’ agar.
1932 Ibid. 19 (title)Studies of the combination of biocolloids.
1956 Nature 24 Mar. 562/2 General behaviour of biocolloids and polyelectrolytes in aqueous solution.
1968 Amer. Psychologist xxiii. 782/2The best prediction of what a man will do in the future is what he has done in the past. It is precisely what a subject has done that bio-data measure.
1971 Hindustan Times Weekly (New Delhi) 4 Apr. 8/6 ( Advt. ),Candidates with agricultural spraying experience need only apply..giving complete bio-data, qualifications and experience.
1981 Amer. Speech 1977 LII. 219There are now in hand the replies of 1000 informants..together with the requisite biodata.
1986 Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka) 24 Aug. 5 ( Advt. ),Vacancies exist for General Clerks{ddd}Apply with full bio-data.
1960 Biochim. & Biophys. Acta XLIII. 348 (heading) Biodegradation of dehydro-l-ascorbic acid; 2, 3-diketo-aldonic acid decarboxylase from rat liver.
1961 Nelson et al. inDevel. Industrial Microbiology II. 93The present study was initiated to provide information on the effect of molecular structure on the biodegradability of synthetic detergents.
Ibid. 101Compounds with strictly linear side chains and those containing one or two methyl branches on the carbon atom attached to the benzene ring are readily biodegradable.
1962 Chem. &Engin. News 10 Sept. 38/3Feedstock..suitable for the production of a completely biodegradable detergent.
Ibid. 24 Dec. 36/1Biodegradability has so far been tested mainly in flask tests.
1969 Nature 19 July 230/2 Biodegradable detergents are now a reality.
1961 W. M. Bejuki in Devel. Industrial Microbiology II. 265The bacteria..are microorganisms being newly introduced into biodeterioration evaluations.
1964 Nature 5 Sept. 1084/1 These thermophilic fungi may play a significant part in the biodeterioration of oil palm produce during processing and storage.
1966 D. G. Coursey in Microbiological Deterioration in Tropics (Soc. Chem. Industry Monograph xxiii) 44 (title)Biodeteriorative processes in palm oil stored in West Africa.
Ibid. 55Purely chemical changes..are slow compared with the biodeteriorative process.
1874 Lewes Prob. Life & Mind I. 129The biostatical and the biodynamical— i.e. the consideration of the structure ready to act; and the consideration of the structure acting.
1923 F. E. Clements et al. in CarnegieInst. Washington Year Book 1922 355The concept of the biome was advanced in 1915 to emphasize the importance of treating plants and animals together as mutually interacting members of a community... The entire field of bio-ecology has been sketched in outline to serve as a guide for further work.
1927 W. P. Taylor in Ecology VIII. 280If the botanists persist in appropriating the term ecology as synonymous with plant ecology we shall be forced to domesticate the new term bio⁓ecology to take its place as referring to the whole field.
1939 F. E. Clements & Shelford ( title)Bio-Ecology.
1957 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 29B/1Other aspects of general ecology are animal ecology, human ecology and bio⁓ecology, which is defined provisionally as the ecology of plant and animal interrelations.
1918 Science 22 Nov. 518/2 Bioelectric phenomena constitute a group of facts for which adequate and satisfactory explanations have hitherto been lacking.
1927 Lund & Kenyon in Jrnl. Exper. Zoöl. XLVIII. 333 (title)Relation between continuous bio-electric currents and cell respiration.
1943 Electronic Engin. XV. 519The above facts suggest that the alpha rhythm..may possibly be due to the same cause as that producing slow bio-electric rhythms in other organs.
1962 IRE Trans. Bio-Medical Electronics IX. 85/1Bioelectrical brain reactions arising in response to certain stimuli are often very poorly expressed.
1949 Blakiston's New Gould Med. Dict. 136/1Bio-electricity, electric phenomena occurring in living tissues; effects of electric currents upon living tissues.
1969 Listener 15 May 688/1 A bioelectricity, which originates in the abdominal cavity.
1945 S. Brody Bioenergetics & Growth ii. 12Bioenergetics, concerned with energy transformations in living things, is a branch of general energetics generalized briefly by the first and second laws of thermodynamics.
1947 Ann. Reg. 1946 388The Timiriazeff Institute , which is divided into sections dealing with photosynthesis,..comparative physiology, bioenergetics. [ U.S. S.R.]
1960 Appl. Microbiol. VIII. 122/1The real problem may exist near the cell surfaces where flow..may depend upon capillary action. Herein may lie one of the real challenges for the bioengineer.
Ibid. 124/1This bioengineering approach has been most fruitfully applied to microbiological processes.
1964 New Scientist 30 July 262/1 Bio-engineering to help in converting new crops into human food.
1952 Chem. Abstr. 10215/1 (title)Effect of bioflavonoids on radiosensitivity of transplanted tumors.
1955 Sci. NewsLet. 26 Feb. 141/1Nature's yellow dyestuff and related chemicals..promise to help fight certain artery troubles and other ailments of man. The chemicals are now called bioflavonoids.
1938 tr. Vernadsky's On some FundamentalProbl. Biogeochem. 5Life in the biogeochemical aspect is the living matter of the biosphere, that is, the total of all the living organisms present in the biosphere at a given moment.
1956 Nature 25 Feb. 353/1 To further the study of biogeochemical cycles.
1938 tr. Vernadsky's On some FundamentalProbl. Biogeochem. 5Biogeochemistry, which is a part of geochemistry and has peculiar methods and peculiar problems of its own, may be finally reduced to a precise quantitative mathematical expression of the living nature in its indissoluble connection with the external medium, in which the living nature exists.
1940 Chem. Abstr. 3769 (title),Problems of bio⁓geochemistry.
1883 C. A. Cutter (Boston) Classif. Nat. Sci. 4In Biognosy the specials contain subdivisions brought together in a group for convenience of treatment. [ Phytognosy, Zoognosy]
1928 E. R. Cumings & R. R. Shrock in Bull. Amer. Geol. Soc. XXXIX. 599Coral reef encourages the misconception that reefs are largely made of coral, whereas many of them were formed by other organisms... The authors have for some time used the term ‘bioherm’.
1939 W. H. Twenhofel Princ. Sedimentation ix. 329Colonial corals have been among the chief contributions to the building of the reefs or bioherms.
1954 W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphology xviii. 480The term ‘bioherm’ (organic mould) is a more appropriate name for such structures, but they have been called reefs so long that the name persists despite its inadequacy.
18.. Long in Education III. 587Biokinetics will consider them in the successive changes through which they pass during the different stages of their development. [ organisms]
1906 H. Potonié in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 748,I set aside those combustible biolithes which are pyromonimites, such as amber.
1920 A. W. Grabau Textbk. Geol. (1921) i. xii. 269The organic or biogenic rocks... The true organic rocks are conveniently termed bioliths.
1934 B. G. Bogorov in Jrnl. MarineBiol. Assoc. XIX. 585Weighing is the main method of obtaining the biomass. The conception ‘biomass’ may be applicable also to the quantity of substance, characteristic for a given species at its different stages of development.
1937 W. Pickles in Jrnl. AnimalEcol. VI. 54In order to determine the biomass of each species, it was necessary to weigh the ants, larvae, pupae, etc., of each nest.
Ibid. 60The success of species..can also be expressed as the biomass, i.e. the total weight per unit area.
1957 Encycl. Brit. VII. 919/2The biomass could be determined for each link of a food chain, or for each stratum of a community or for the whole community.
Ibid. XVIII. 237/1This method uses weights of population samples (biomass) instead of counts of individuals.
1923 W. M. Feldman Biomath. i. 1Biomathematics is the science and art of rapid and accurate computation applied to the study and investigation of biological problems.
1963 New Scientist 10 Jan. 72/2 There are now strong indications that biomathematics and medicomathematics are emerging as distinctive scientific disciplines.
1955 Bull. AtomicSci. May 200/2The only biomedical data which remains classified is in piecemeal or incomplete form and therefore inadequate for use by the medical profession.
1962 S. Carpenter in Into Orbit 160Next, you run a check on the intercom and the bio-medical leads to make sure they are working.
1963 C. D. Green in J. H. U. Brown Physiol. of Man in Space 257 (title)Biomedical capsules.
1865 Reader 25 Feb. 213/1 A life table..is an instrument of investigation; it may be called a biometer, for it gives the exact measure of the duration of life under given circumstances.
1946 Nature 28 Sept. 440/2 A later technique is beautifully illustrated by the exhibit from the Department of Biomolecular Structure of the University of Leeds.
1901 J. G. McKendrick in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 810The conception of a biomolecule, or living molecule, that is to say the smallest quantity of living matter that can exhibit some of the chemical phenomena of life.
1882 Pop. Sci. Monthly XXII. 169The eminent biophysiologist, William B. Carpenter.
1958 Newsweek 17 Feb. 95/1 The NACA sphere could be ready within a year as a bio⁓satellite to test space stresses on small laboratory animals.
1966 Daily Tel. 19 Dec. 1/4They were millions of insects and bacteria in a ‘biosatellite’ that went astray.
1964 ( title of periodical)BioScience.
1966 I. Asimov Fantastic Voyage i. 12Tell him I want some crumbs for the bio-sciences.
1959 Listener 14 May 834/2 Most physical scientists can be rather precise in their measurements and in the predictions based on them. Not so the bio-scientists.
[ 1894J. Izoulet La Cité Moderne i. i. 1 (title)Livre Premier. Exposé de notre hypothèse bio-sociale. ]
1927 L. L. Bernard Introd. SocialPsychol. i. v. 79The physico-social and bio-social environments are intimately connected with human behavior.
1935 L. Bloomfield in Language XI. 98The bio⁓physical description, in terms of speakers' movements, or of sound-waves,..must be left to the laboratory. The biosocial description consists in a statement of the combinations in which these phonemes occur.
1937 C. W. Morris Log. Positivism ii. 22Pragmatism..is not falsely described as a biosocial positivism.
1942 C. F. Hockett in Language XVIII. 6Phonological equivalence involves, generally, the two factors of α-phonetic similarity and biosocial equivalence.
1936 E. van Loo tr. Bouger'sIntrod. Criminol. iv. 77‘Every crime is the resultant of individual, physical and social conditions.’.. This view was shared by several later authors... Its adherents form what is called the ‘biosociological school’.
1949 Koestler Insight & Outlook xvi. 221The biosociological significance of these upheavals is rarely appreciated.
[ 1894J. Izoulet La Cité Moderne iv. i. 544Je crois que la psycho-morale et la bio-sociologie ne peuvent coexister parallèlement, sans agir et réagir l'une sur l'autre. ]
1901 G. Gissing Our Friend Charlatan ii. 22‘It's uncommonly suggestive,’ said Dyce... ‘The best social theory I know. He calls his system Bio-Sociology, a theory of society founded on the facts of biology.’ [ sc. J. Izoulet]
1953 Hazelton & Glennie in C. H. D. Cullingford Brit. Caving ix. 248British biospeleological literature is necessarily scanty.
1947 New Biol. III. 103Small bands of enthusiastic workers, like those who laid the foundations of biospelæology, can hardly be expected to produce rapid results.
1965 B. E. Freeman tr. A. Vandel (title)Biospeleology: the biology of cavernicolous animals.
1874 Lewes Prob. Life & Mind I. 115These may be classed (by a serviceable extension of the term Statics) under the heads of Biostatics and Psychostatics.
1885 Athenæum 28 Feb. 285/1. The inquiry was limited to the biostatics and anthropometry of the Ashkenasim Jews.
1932 E. R. Cumings in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XLIII. 334For purely bedded structures, such as shell beds, crinoid beds, coral beds, etcetera, consisting of and built..by sedentary organisms..I propose the name biostrome... Biostrome means literally an organic layer.
1961 J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 23/1Where the biolith is a more or less extensive bed it is sometimes called a ‘biostrome’.
1930 Brit. Chem. Abstr. A. 479/2The closely related structure of natural anthocyanins, .. is discussed on the basis of biosynthesis from the simple components formaldehyde and its condensation products. [ etc.]
1949 E. Chain in H. W. Florey Antibiotics II. xvii. 695The strain 1984. A is more exacting in its requirements for the biosynthesis of penicillin.
1959 Sci. News LII. 17The presence of iron is essential to the biosynthesis of chlorophyll.
1948 Biol. Abstr. 304The dominant opinion was that biosynthetic processes were to be considered as cascades.
1974 Bioscience May 310/1 Project Biotech..was designed to provide training opportunities for the so-called middle manpower needs in the life sciences.
1980 N.Y. Times 29 June iii. 5/1In addition to Bethesda Research Laboratories, there is Biotech Research, in Rockville, Md.
1982 Sunday Times 4 Apr. 51/2 CLS the first UK ‘biotech’ business to go public. [ is]
1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 26 June 40/1 Three short years ago there was considerable concern in Japan over the lead held in biotech by the US.
1938 L. Mumford Culture of Cities 495Biotechnic, refers to an emergent economy..pointing to a civilization in which the biological sciences will be freely applied to technology... The application of bacteriology to medicine and sanitation, ..are further marks of this order. [ etc.]
1925 Geddes & Thomson Biol. 245 (heading)The Applications of Biology (Biotechnics).
1902 J. J. Buckman in Geol. Mag. IX. 556Why cannot we call this a biozone, using the term to signify the range of organisms in time as indicated by their entombment in the strata? Thus we might have the biozone of a species, of a genus, of a family, or of a larger group.
1971 Compton Yearbk. 224/2The FDA began to insist that any claims of *bioavailability equivalency made by the makers of generic drugs be true.
1979 Daily Tel. 5 Dec. 18To avoid any problems associated with differing bio-availabilities, it does make sense, for some drugs, to prescribe by brand name to ensure the patient always receives the same quality of preparation.
1983 Oxf. Textbk. Med. I. vii. 5/2By definition, the bioavailability of a drug after intravenous administration is 100 per cent.
1985 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 9 Nov. 1332/2The bioavailability of iron in domestic water supplies is not known.
1965 New Scientist 30 Sept. 858/2 The control of *biohazards is a new kind of problem in cancer research. Only recently it has become apparent that viruses, which had been thought to be species-specific, can cross from one species to another and thus spread disease.
1975 Nature 5 June 442/1 This meeting was organised to review scientific progress in research on recombinant DNA molecules and to discuss appropriate ways to deal with the potential biohazards of this work.
1986 Water, Air & Soil Pollution XXVIII. 385 Exposure to H2S at the levels reported here may be less of a biohazard than previously supposed.
1975 Sci. Amer. July 32/2The National Academy of Sciences had been urged to consider the ‘possibility that potentially *biohazardous consequences might result from widespread or injudicious use’ of these techniques.
1979 F. J. Dyson Disturbing the Universe xvi. 181An ordinance was passed..subjecting biohazardous research to municipal supervision.
1984 Cancer Res. XLIV. 478/1Radioimmunoassays are both expensive and potentially biohazardous.
1975 Chem. &Engin. News 2 June 19/2Klass has computed the data for several proposed schemes for converting biomass into fuels.
1976 Mech. Engin. July 16/1All these potential fuel sources, the organic matter produced through photosynthesis, are collectively called ‘biomass’.
1986 Forestry LIX. 238 The potential of eucalypts for producing biomass and fuelwood has not been fully explored.
[ 1982Chem. Engin. 8 Feb. 104Butanol-rich fuel... A newly discovered strain of bacteria produces a butanol-containing fuel that needs no distillation, from municipal, agricultural or food wastes... The developer, Bio-Diesel Fuels Ltd. (Toronto, Ont. ), plans to build a demonstration plant by 1984.]
1986 Ibid. 27 Oct. 12c/2Bio Energy Philippines Inc..claims that it has developed a diesel oil from copra that is better than regular diesel... Called *Biodiesel, it is said to also be better than Cocodiesel, a mixture of ordinary diesel fuel and coconut oil.
1991 Daily Tel. 17 June 5/8In France the rape fuel is being used in trials to run a fleet of buses. Bio-diesel pumps are sited at a chain of filling stations in Austria.
1991 South Aug. 58/2 Bio-diesel is made by mixing rape seed oil (ESO) with Methyl Alcohol to produce Methyl RSO. Glycerol is then added to produce Rape Methyl Ester (RME)—Known as MRE in Germany and diester in France.
1987 Nature 30 Apr. 871/1 Here *biodiversity increases with the introduction of understory vegetation.
1988 E. O. Wilson Biodiversity p. vi,The forum was conceived by Walter G. Rosen... Furthermore, he introduced the term biodiversity . [ at a forum held on 21–5 September 1986 in Washington,D.C. ]
1988 Conservation Biol. II. 307It's becoming a byword in both house and home, and a cause célèbre among rain forest researchers, but biodiversity has yet to receive the support it deserves from marine ecologists.
1989 Times 31 Mar. 5/4 The bio-diversity campaign is an attempt to bring the seriousness of the global situation to the attention of people in all walks of life.
1991 Nature Conservancy May–June 21/2 The idea of sustainable development—which acknowledges that human economies, human cultures and biodiversity are inextricably linked.
1970 Physics Bull. Sept. 402/1The *biofuel cell uses the body's metabolism in the oxidation–reduction process.
1974 Energy Primer 106/2 Because wood is such an exploitable biofuel, we felt that reasonable space ought to be devoted to a discussion of its efficient use.
1985 Fortune, 13 May 82/2 The use of biofuels in place of expensive oil naturally means big savings in energy costs.
1992 Farmers Weekly 14 Aug. 40/1 Within five years 600,000t of the new rape-based bio-fuel rape methyl ester (RME) will be produced on the Continent.
1982 Computerworld 11 Jan. (In Depth Section) 7/1 We have yet to learn how to assemble many such *bio-circuits and properly interconnect them to form computers.
1986 Financial Rev. (Sydney) 27 June 47/6A science fantasy of using cells to act as little bio-chip factories..that has attracted vast funds to bio-circuit research overseas.
1994 Independent on Sunday 20 Mar. (Business section) 5/1 The surface has tiny grooves, thinner than a human hair, etched on it, which direct the growth of the cells. The researchers have used this to create a primitive biocircuit that can transmit electrical signals.
2002 New Scientist 9 Feb. 18 Plant viruses can now be turned into the building blocks of microprocessors. The inventors say the tiny biocircuits could even be used inside the body.
2004 R. Weiss et al. in M. Amos Cellular Computing iv. 55In contrast to electrical circuit design where identical components are separated spatially, each component in a biocircuit shares the same physical space but relies on different biochemical reactions.
1952 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 74 5935/2Progesterone *bioconversion by Rhizopus arrhizus.
1969 New Scientist 25 Sept. ( Suppl. ) 11/2The most interesting new prospect for the commercial application of microbial bioconversions.
1984 A. C. Duxbury & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans xv. 500The use of a plant crop to harness the sun's energy for conversion to a fuel or energy is called bioconversion.
2005 S. Barrett Environment & Statecraft xv. 393Photosynthesis fixes CO2, and stores it in the biomass and the soil... Genetic enginereering could potentially augment the natural bioconversion process, and make CO2 biomass storage more durable.
1965 Dept. Agric. Appropriations 1966 (U.S. Congress) 80Research is underway for development of detergents that are more easily *biodegraded.
1970 Newark (Ohio) Advocate & Amer. Tribune 2 June 5/9In a properly-functioning septic tank and tile drain field system, detergents will biodegrade along with the other household wastes.
2000 Here's Health May 60/2 As the plastic strips don't biodegrade, much of the waste ends up polluting beaches and seas, killing millions of marine mammals each year.
1939 Electronics Oct. 11 (title) A new *bio-electronic application: electroencephalography.
1981 E. R. Harrison Cosmology i. 2/2We can place our bodies and bioelectronic brains in the physical universe, but we cannot insert our minds into the universe that is conceived by our minds.
1992 N. Stephenson Snow Crash xxxi. 221What is this totally irritating noise? Bioelectronic sensor.
2004 G. Garrard Ecocriticism vii. 144As he tracks down and kills six of the advanced bio-electronic Nexus-6 type androids, his sense of human superiority is challenged.
1939 Electronics Nov. 93 Investigation in the field of *bio-electronics has led to the development of the instrument described herein, whose stability is of a high order.
1960 Science 3 June 1690/1 (advt.) Basic research scientists. Ph.D. in microbiology, bioelectronics, biophysics or other sciences.
1995 Sci. Amer. Mar. 70/2,I anticipate that the major near-term impact of bioelectronics on computer hardware will be in the area of volumetric memory.
2004 L. A. Karoly & C. W. A. Panis 21stCent. at Work iii. 97Bioelectronics is another area in which the forecast is for revolutionary consequences, with proteins as building blocks for electronic circuitry.
1963 Z. M. Fineman et al. in A. W. Klement & V. Schultz Radioecology vii. 456 (caption)Jack rabbit bone as a *bio-indicator of strontium-90 contamination in the National Reactor Testing Station and environs.
1984 Coal Week (Nexis) 23 Apr. 3 Healthy ponderosa pine is a sign of a relatively clean environment since they are a sensitive bioindicator of airborne pollution.
2002 Nat. Home July–Aug. 37/2Frogs are considered important bio-indicators—they spend time in both water and on land , their permeable skin allows substances to move freely into their bodies, and their fatty tissues can absorb and concentrate toxins. [ sic]
1959 J. Brachet & A. E Mirsky Cell 310Serve as its protector against change in physical state, temperature, light, acidity, against *bioinvaders, etc.
1995 Washington Post 9 July a9 (heading) Bio-Invaders pose ecological risk; environmental group cites rapid global spread of ‘exotic’ viruses, pests.
2000 J. Gates Democracy at RiskIntrod. p. xxiv,A virulent bioinvader, kudzu has taken over millions of acres in the American South, overwhelming the native habitat as it smothers flowering plants and shrubs, driving them to extinction.
1976 B. Dawes Adv. inParasitol. 62A host of a certain larval stage is facultatively substituted by another one (*bioinvasion), and the helminth larvae are relocated.
1992 Copeia
1992 1137/2 Aquatic bioinvasions have increased dramatically over the last decade due largely to transport by ships' ballast water.
2002 W. M. Jastremski in L. Susskind et al. Transboundary Environmental Negotiation xv. 361The great majority of aquatic bioinvasions are thought to occur because of ballast water exchange.
1960 Analyt. Chem. 32 198r (table)*Biomaterials.
1980 Chem. Rev. 80 296/2Vesicles..are colloidal systems which most nearly resemble biomembranes. They are usually made of biomaterials such as lecithins.
1993 R. J. Pond Introd. Engin. Technol. (ed. 2) x. 294We have already witnessed the benefits of advanced materials in our automobiles and in our own bodies ( e.g. , biomaterials—tissues and organs made of ceramics, composites, glass, and plastics).
1999 Daily Tel. 18 Feb. (Connected section) 10/4There's a market for stationary steam engines to generate power by burning waste and biomaterials.
2004 Nature 1 Apr. 487/1 Biomaterials have been defined as substances other than foods or drugs contained in therapeutic or diagnostic systems and, in some cases, have been described as materials composed of biologically derived components (for example, amino acids) irrespective of their application.
2005 Colloids & Surfaces (B.) 49 136/1 Titanium is frequently used as biomaterial in dental, orthopaedic and cardiovascular fields for manufacturing bone-anchoring devices.
1982 Inorganica Chimica Acta 62 1/1 The successful synthesis of homo- and heteronuclear metal complexes which have found application in the area of *biomimicry.
1999 Daily Tel. 22 Apr. (Connected section) 3/2Admired by marine engineers, fish locomotion has long been seen as an area rich in possibilities by the emerging science of biomimicry.
2006 U.S. News & WorldRep. 2 Oct. 66/3Using the human tricuspid heart valve as a bit of inspirational biomimicry, the IDEO team designed a simple self-sealing valve that opens only when squeezed.
1986 Chem. Week 29 Oct. 34/3Sikes's company is one of several that offer *bioremediation services based on the encouragement of organisms already on site.
1989 N.Y. Times 23 May c1A major obstacle to the development of bioremediation..has been a thicket of Government regulations limiting the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment.
2003 Nature 3 Apr. 465/2 A gentler option is bioremediation, which involves using fertilizer to speed the growth of naturally occurring oil-digesting bacteria.
1985 Avian Dis. 29 740*Biosecurity precautions directed toward separating domestic poultry from wild birds are encouraged.
1994 Yearbk. Internat. Law 5 352The Commission had also been requested to enact a Decision on a common regime on access to genetic resources and on biosecurity in the Andean Pact subregion.
1999 Federal News Service (Nexis) 27 Oct. Three subgroups..provide internal support on biosecurity, cybersecurity, and continuity of government matters.
2004 Foreign Policy July–Aug. 87/3 Biological knowledge is needed to develop weapons, but it is also vital to developing the drugs, vaccines, and other countermeasures essential to biosecurity.
1961 J. Healer & A. T. Kornfield Bibliography on Biosensors (title)Bibliography on *biosensors.
1983 Biotechnol. & Bioengineering 25 1641 A biosensor consisting of immobilized nitrite oxidizing bacteria has been developed for the amperometric determination of NO2.
1992 New Scientist 4 Apr. 21/1 Researchers have genetically engineered plants which produce a sky-blue glow when under stress... Eventually it may be possible to position these ‘reporter plants’ among normal crops to act as living biosensors.
2004 Games TM Apr. 13/1 Each player wears an electrode-stuffed headband that registers electrical activity in the brain. A biosensor reads this information and uses it to move the ball.
1987 J. McDermott Killing Winds xvi. 252Since the intimidating powers of biological weapons are so uncomfortably clear, *bioterrorism is a sensitive subject that few want to discuss or face.
1991 Atlantic May 48/1 To engage in bioterrorism requires only..a sophisticated understanding of the properties of various edible plants, medicinal herbs, toxins and venoms, and infectious and pharmaceutical agents.
2005 Daily Tel. 28 Feb. 11/4Botulinum toxin is particularly attractive as a bio-terrorism weapon because it is 10 million times more poisonous than cyanide.
1987 J. McDermott Killing Winds xvi. 255If the *bioterrorist uses a human disease, the FBI would investigate and enlist the help of the Centers for Disease Control.
1996 New Scientist 11 May 32/1 Many experts say that it is no longer a question of whether a major bioterrorist attack will occur, but when.
1999 N.Y. Times 21 Oct. a24/3The United States reserves the right to launch a nuclear strike against a bioterrorist nation.
2006 Economist (Nexis) 2 Sept. At the moment a bioterrorist would be better advised to use an existing ‘weaponised’ pathogen (there are plenty) than to make a new one from scratch.
1914 W. S. Bainbridge CancerProbl. 344In regard to bacteriology and biotherapy in general we are at the present time witnessing but a repetition of what has gone on throughout all the ages in the search for a remedy for cancer.
1949 Science 4 June 600/1 Validation of the results..in producing the cancerolytic toxin..from the lysed cells of T. cruzi was recently claimed... This mode of ‘biotherapy’ is still looked upon by some as one of the promising leads in the treatment of cancer.
1988 Lancet 16 Apr. 858/1 The book is pervaded with an optimism for biotherapy which can scarcely be supported by a critical assessment of clinical results so far. [ cancer]
2005 N.Y. TimesMag. 11 Dec. 80/1Along with leeches, maggots are part of the emerging field of biotherapy—the therapeutic use of living creatures.
1956 W. A. Heflin U. S. Air ForceDict. *biowar, ‘Biological Warfare’.
1982 Christian Sci. Monitor (Easterned. ) 11 Feb. 2/5 (heading)Pakistan expels American after Soviet biowar claim.
1993 A. Toffler & H. Toffler War & Anti-war iii. xiv. 122It is now known that work on offensive bio-war weapons continued in the Soviet Union long after it signed a 1972 treaty outlawing such arms.
2001 Birmingham Post (Electronic ed. ) 13 Oct.The only example we have of an anthrax epidemic was at Sverdlovsk, Russia in 1979 when spores escaped from a military factory. It is generally remembered as a terrifying example of what could happen during a biowar.
1966 New Scientist 22 Dec. 695/1 (heading) *Biowarfare.
1971 It 2–16 June 3/2 The Army Germ Warfare Testing Centre at Desert, Utah, announced it was..changing its title to ‘Defensive Bio-Warfare Research’.
1997 N. DeMille Plum Island xii. 137A good day for the bio-warfare gentlemen is a day when their scientists can genetically engineer the FMD virus to infect humans.
2001 Toronto Star 13 Jan. a17/2 The fearsome virus..is closely related to smallpox, raising fears the technology could be used in biowarfare.
1962 H. B. Piper in AnalogSci. Fiction/Sci. Fact Nov. 47*Bio-weapons; a man-made plague that had gotten out of control and all but depopulated the planet.
1995 L. Garrett Coming Plague xvii. 603By 1993 some 125 nations had signed the Bioweapons Convention.., yet the agreement had no teeth.
2001 Chicago Tribune 12 Sept. i. 3/1 U.S. intelligence has focused on countering the kind of attacks that had happened: truck bombs, explosives hidden in airplane luggage, and bio-weapons released in crowds.
bio-
word-forming element, from Greek bio-, comb. form of bios "one's life, course or way of living, lifetime" (as opposed to zoe "animal life, organic life"), from PIE root *gweie- (1) "to live" (cognates: Sanskrit jivah "alive, living;" Old Persian *jivaka- "alive," Middle Persian zhiwak "alive;" Old English cwic, cwicu "living, alive;" Latin vivus "living, alive," vita "life;" Old Church Slavonic zivo "to live;" Lithuanian gyvas "living, alive," gyvata "(eternal) life;" Old Irish bethu "life," bith "age;" Welsh byd "world"). The correct usage is that in biography, but in modern science it has been extended to mean "organic life."
☞ bio
bio-
— see bi- II
— see bi- II
bio-
Prefix
- life
- organic life
Etymology
From Ancient Greek βίο- (bío-), combining form and stem of βίος (bíos, “life”).