Biology Abbreviations
75 abbreviations · part of Science & Engineering Abbreviations
Abbreviations from molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, microbiology, ecology and evolution: the nucleic acids and energy carriers of the cell (DNA, RNA, ATP), everyday laboratory techniques (PCR, ELISA, SDS-PAGE, FACS), common reagents and cell lines, and taxonomic shorthand such as sp. and spp. Most are used identically in research papers worldwide; gene- and genome-level terms such as SNP or GWAS are listed under genetics.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AA | Amino acid | Building block of proteins: an organic molecule with an amino group, a carboxyl group and a distinctive side chain. |
| ADP | Adenosine diphosphate | Nucleotide formed when ATP loses one phosphate group to release energy; ATP synthase then adds a phosphate back to ADP, completing the cycle that powers cells. |
| AMP | Adenosine monophosphate | Nucleotide with a single phosphate group, formed when ATP or ADP is broken down further and used as a building block of RNA. |
| ATP | Adenosine triphosphate | The cell's energy currency: a nucleotide whose three phosphate groups release usable energy when the outer one is split off, powering muscle contraction, nerve… |
| BMR | Basal metabolic rate | Energy a body uses at complete rest, after fasting, in a comfortable temperature, to keep organs functioning. |
| BSA | Bovine serum albumin | Protein purified from cow blood and used throughout biology labs as a cheap, stable standard and blocking agent. |
| BSL | Biosafety level | Four-tier system of laboratory containment practices, equipment and facility design matched to the risk of the organisms handled. |
| CAM | Crassulacean acid metabolism | Form of photosynthesis in which plants open their pores at night to take up carbon dioxide, store it as malic acid, and use it during the day with pores closed. |
| cAMP | Cyclic adenosine monophosphate | Second messenger that relays signals from hormones such as adrenaline and glucagon, which cannot enter cells, to enzymes inside them. |
| Cas9 | CRISPR-associated protein 9 | DNA-cutting enzyme, originally from Streptococcus pyogenes, that a short guide RNA directs to a matching 20-letter DNA sequence, where it makes a double-strand break. |
| CFU | Colony-forming unit | Count of viable bacteria or fungal cells in a sample, estimated by spreading dilutions on agar and counting the colonies that grow, since each colony arises from a… |
| CHO | Chinese hamster ovary (cells) | Cell line derived from the ovary of a Chinese hamster and the dominant platform for manufacturing biologic drugs. |
| CRISPR | Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats | Repeating DNA sequences in bacteria and archaea that store snippets of viral DNA as a genetic memory of past infections, part of a natural immune system. |
| cryo-EM | Cryogenic electron microscopy | Imaging technique that flash-freezes biological molecules in a thin layer of glassy ice and photographs them with an electron microscope, then combines thousands of… |
| DAPI | 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole | Blue fluorescent dye that binds strongly to DNA, used to stain cell nuclei in fluorescence microscopy and to count cells and analyze DNA content by flow cytometry. |
| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic acid | The molecule that carries genetic instructions in nearly all living things: two strands of nucleotides wound into a double helix, with the bases adenine, thymine… |
| dNTP | Deoxynucleoside triphosphate | Collective name for the four DNA building blocks, dATP, dCTP, dGTP and dTTP, which DNA polymerases join together when copying DNA. dNTP mixes are a standard component… |
| EC | Enzyme Commission number | Four-part numerical code that classifies enzymes by the reaction they catalyze, such as EC 3.2.1.1 for alpha-amylase. |
| ECM | Extracellular matrix | Network of proteins and carbohydrates, such as collagen, elastin, fibronectin and proteoglycans, that cells secrete around themselves. |
| ELISA | Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay | Plate-based test that detects and measures a protein, antibody or hormone by capturing it with antibodies and adding an enzyme that turns a substrate colored in… |
| ER | Endoplasmic reticulum | Network of membrane-enclosed tubes and sacs extending from the nuclear envelope through the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. |
| ESC | Embryonic stem cell | Pluripotent cell derived from the inner cell mass of an early embryo at the blastocyst stage, able to divide indefinitely and to give rise to almost any cell type in… |
| EtBr | Ethidium bromide | Fluorescent dye that slips between DNA base pairs and glows orange under ultraviolet light, long the standard stain for visualizing DNA bands in agarose gels. |
| ETC | Electron transport chain | Series of protein complexes in the inner mitochondrial membrane (and in bacterial and chloroplast membranes) that pass electrons from NADH and FADH2 to oxygen. |
| FACS | Fluorescence-activated cell sorting | Flow cytometry method that measures fluorescence on individual cells streaming past lasers and then physically sorts them into separate tubes by applying charge to… |
| FAD | Flavin adenine dinucleotide | Coenzyme derived from riboflavin (vitamin B2) that accepts and donates electrons in metabolism, cycling between FAD and its reduced form FADH2. |
| FBS | Fetal bovine serum | Serum collected from the blood of bovine fetuses at slaughter, added at typically 5-10% to culture media because it supplies growth factors, hormones and proteins that… |
| FITC | Fluorescein isothiocyanate | Green fluorescent dye that attaches to proteins through their amino groups, long the most common label for antibodies in immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. |
| GABA | Gamma-aminobutyric acid | Chief inhibitory neurotransmitter of the mammalian brain, which dampens nerve activity by opening chloride channels on neurons. |
| GFP | Green fluorescent protein | Protein from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria that glows bright green under blue or ultraviolet light without any added cofactor. |
| GM | Genetically modified | Describes an organism, crop or food produced using genetic engineering, as in GM crops or GM mosquitoes. |
| GMO | Genetically modified organism | Plant, animal or microbe whose DNA has been altered with genetic engineering techniques rather than conventional breeding or natural mutation. |
| GPCR | G protein-coupled receptor | Large family of cell-surface receptors that snake seven times through the membrane and relay signals by activating G proteins inside the cell. |
| GTP | Guanosine triphosphate | Energy-rich nucleotide used as an RNA building block and as a fuel and on-off switch in many cellular processes. |
| HEK293 | Human embryonic kidney 293 cells | Widely used human cell line, easy to grow and to transfect with DNA, which makes it a standard workhorse for producing proteins and viral vectors and for testing gene… |
| HeLa | Henrietta Lacks (cell line) | The first immortal human cell line, derived in 1951 from cervical cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital. |
| HGT | Horizontal gene transfer | Movement of genetic material between organisms other than from parent to offspring, as when bacteria swap plasmids carrying antibiotic resistance genes. |
| IF | Immunofluorescence | Technique that labels proteins in cells or tissue sections with fluorescently tagged antibodies so they can be seen under a fluorescence or confocal microscope. |
| Ig | Immunoglobulin | Y-shaped protein, also called an antibody, produced by B cells to recognize specific foreign molecules. |
| IgG | Immunoglobulin G | The most abundant antibody class in blood, making up about three quarters of circulating immunoglobulins. |
| IHC | Immunohistochemistry | Staining method that uses labeled antibodies to show where a particular protein is located in thin tissue sections. |
| iPSC | Induced pluripotent stem cell | Adult cell, such as a skin or blood cell, reprogrammed back into an embryonic-like pluripotent state by switching on a handful of genes. iPSCs avoid the ethical issues… |
| Km | Michaelis constant | In enzyme kinetics, the substrate concentration at which a reaction proceeds at half its maximum rate (Vmax). |
| KO | Knockout | Victory in boxing, MMA or kickboxing when an opponent is knocked down and cannot rise before the referee counts to ten, or is rendered unable to continue by a strike. |
| LB | Lysogeny broth | Nutrient-rich growth medium of tryptone, yeast extract and sodium chloride, the standard liquid and agar medium for growing E. coli in molecular biology. |
| LUCA | Last universal common ancestor | Hypothetical population of organisms from which all life on Earth descends, the root of the tree of life shared by bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. |
| mAb | Monoclonal antibody | Laboratory-made antibodies designed to bind a single target, used as drugs for cancer, autoimmune disease, migraine, asthma, high cholesterol and infections. |
| MHC | Major histocompatibility complex | Set of genes encoding cell-surface proteins that display fragments of proteins to T cells, allowing the immune system to spot infected or cancerous cells. |
| MIC | Minimum inhibitory concentration | Lowest concentration of an antibiotic or antifungal that prevents visible growth of a microorganism in the laboratory. |
| MOI | Multiplicity of infection | Ratio of infectious virus particles (or bacteria) to target cells in an infection experiment. |
| MRCA | Most recent common ancestor | In evolutionary biology and genealogy, the most recent individual or species from which a set of organisms all descend. |
| mRNA | Messenger RNA | RNA copy of a gene that carries protein-building instructions from DNA in the nucleus to ribosomes in the cytoplasm, where each three-letter codon specifies an amino… |
| NAD | Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide | Coenzyme found in every living cell that shuttles electrons in metabolism, cycling between an oxidized form, NAD+, and a reduced form, NADH. |
| NADH | Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced) | Reduced, electron-carrying form of NAD, produced during glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. |
| NADPH | Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced) | Electron carrier that supplies reducing power for building molecules such as fatty acids and cholesterol and for protecting cells against oxidative damage. |
| NPP | Net primary production | Rate at which plants and other photosynthesizers store energy as new biomass after subtracting what they use for their own respiration. |
| OD | Optical density | Measure of how much light a sample absorbs or scatters, read on a spectrophotometer. |
| PBS | Phosphate-buffered saline | Water-based salt solution containing sodium chloride and phosphate buffer that matches the pH (about 7.4) and salt concentration of the human body. |
| PCR | Polymerase chain reaction | Laboratory method that copies a chosen stretch of DNA millions to billions of times by repeatedly heating and cooling a sample with primers, nucleotides and a… |
| PDB | Protein Data Bank | Global archive of experimentally determined three-dimensional structures of proteins, DNA and other biological molecules, freely available online. |
| PFU | Plaque-forming unit | Count of infectious virus particles in a sample, determined by spreading dilutions over a layer of host cells and counting the clear spots, or plaques, where viruses… |
| qPCR | Quantitative polymerase chain reaction | PCR that measures the amount of DNA as it is amplified, using fluorescent dyes or probes read after every cycle. |
| RNA | Ribonucleic acid | Usually single-stranded nucleic acid that uses the sugar ribose and the base uracil in place of thymine. |
| ROS | Reactive oxygen species | Oxygen-containing molecules and radicals, such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide and the hydroxyl radical, that react readily with DNA, proteins and lipids. |
| rRNA | Ribosomal RNA | RNA that forms the structural and catalytic core of the ribosome, the cell's protein factory; it makes up most of a ribosome's mass and is the most abundant RNA in a… |
| RT-PCR | Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction | Technique that first converts RNA into complementary DNA with the enzyme reverse transcriptase, then amplifies it by PCR. |
| RuBisCO | Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase | Enzyme that captures carbon dioxide from the air in the first step of the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis, attaching it to a five-carbon sugar. |
| SDS-PAGE | Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis | Laboratory technique that separates proteins by size. |
| sp. | Species | Placed after a genus name when the exact species is unknown or unspecified, as in Bacillus sp. or Quercus sp. |
| spp. | Species (plural) | Plural of sp., placed after a genus name to refer to several or all species in that genus, as in Salmonella spp. or Eucalyptus spp. |
| subsp. | Subspecies | Taxonomic rank below species, used for populations with distinct traits, often in different regions, that can still interbreed. |
| Taq | Thermus aquaticus (DNA polymerase) | Heat-stable DNA polymerase from the hot-spring bacterium Thermus aquaticus, the enzyme that made PCR practical because it survives repeated heating to about 95 °C. |
| TCA | Tricarboxylic acid cycle | Central metabolic pathway in mitochondria that oxidizes acetyl groups from carbohydrates, fats and proteins to carbon dioxide, capturing energy as NADH, FADH2 and GTP… |
| tRNA | Transfer RNA | Small RNA molecule, usually 76 to 90 nucleotides long, that delivers a specific amino acid to the ribosome during protein synthesis. |
| WT | Wild type | The typical, unmutated form of a gene, organism or strain as it occurs in nature or in a standard reference stock, used as the baseline for comparing mutants. |
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