. "Appendix A: Glossary." Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2004.
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Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects
A
Glossary
Adventitious bacteria
Bacteria that originate from a source other than the organism or environment in which they are found and are not inherent to that organism or environment.
Agrobacterium
A naturally occurring pathogenic bacterium of plants that can incorporate a portion of a plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into plant cells.
Allele
One of the variant forms of a gene at a particular locus, or location, on a chromosome. Different alleles produce variation in inherited characteristics, such as blood type.
Antinutrient
A compound (in food) that inhibits the normal uptake or utilization of nutrients or that is toxic in itself.
Apoptosis
The process of cell death, which occurs naturally as a part of normal development, maintenance, and renewal of tissue in an organism.
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
A strain of bacteria that produces a protein toxic to certain insects that cause significant crop damage. The bacteria are often used for biological pest control. The gene that codes for the toxic protein has been engineered into other soil bacteria and also directly into some crop plants.
