Combined Science key terms

A chemical that kills fungi or inhibits their growth.

A safety device containing a wire that heats up and melts when the current becomes too large, breaking the circuit.

A reproductive cell, such as an egg or sperm, containing one chromosome from each pair rather than both.

Electromagnetic radiation emitted from an atomic nucleus.

The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an organism and its surroundings.

The force exerted per unit area by gas particles colliding with the walls of their container.

A section of DNA that carries information affecting an organism's characteristics.

All the alleles present in a population.

A medical approach that modifies a patient's genetic material to treat a disorder, for example by introducing a working version of a faulty gene.

A crop plant whose genome has been modified by introducing a gene from another organism.

The comparison of genetic material, such as DNA or RNA base sequences, to investigate similarities, differences and relationships between organisms.

Modification of an organism's genome by introducing a gene from another organism to give a desired characteristic.

An inherited gene change that increases the likelihood of developing a particular disease.

A version of a region of DNA with a different sequence of bases.

Differences between individuals caused by differences in the genetic material they have inherited.

The complete genetic material of an organism.

The combination of alleles an organism has; for a particular gene, this can be represented by letters such as TT or Tt.

A classification group containing closely related species; its name forms the first word of an organism’s binomial name.

Energy obtained from hot rocks within the Earth.

An extensive network of atoms joined by covalent bonds, rather than separate small molecules.

A regular, repeating three-dimensional arrangement containing a huge number of positive and negative ions.

A long-term change in climate patterns across the world, including average temperatures and rainfall.

A reduction in the sunlight reaching the Earth's surface because atmospheric particulates reflect sunlight back into space.

A long-term increase in the Earth's average surface temperature.

A thin wooden stick with a hot, glowing end but no flame, used to test for oxygen gas.

(HT only) A hormone released by the pancreas that raises blood glucose concentration by causing stored glycogen in the liver to be converted into glucose and released into the blood.

A sugar produced during photosynthesis, used by plants in respiration and to make other molecules.