Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

403 results found

fungicide

(Encyclopedia)fungicide fŭnˈjəsīdˌ, fŭngˈgə– [key], any substance used to destroy fungi. Some fungi are extremely damaging to crops (see diseases of plants), and others cause diseases in humans and other ...

tropical medicine

(Encyclopedia)tropical medicine, study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of certain diseases prevalent in the tropics. The warmth and humidity of the tropics and the often unsanitary conditions under which so m...

oats

(Encyclopedia)oats, cereal plants of the genus Avena of the family Poaceae (grass family). Most species are annuals of moist temperate regions. The early history of oats is obscure, but domestication is considered ...

autoimmune disease

(Encyclopedia)autoimmune disease, any of a number of abnormal conditions caused when the body produces antibodies to its own substances. In rheumatoid arthritis, a group of antibody molecules called collectively RF...

Bad Nauheim

(Encyclopedia)Bad Nauheim bät nouˈhīm [key], town, Hesse, central Germany, in the Taunus Mts. It is a wo...

whooping cough

(Encyclopedia)whooping cough or pertussis, highly communicable infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The early or catarrhal stage of whooping cough is manifested by the usual symptoms of ...

entomology

(Encyclopedia)entomology, study of insects, an arthropod class that comprises about 900,000 known species, representing about three fourths of all the classified animal species. Insects are studied because of their...

pediatrics

(Encyclopedia)pediatrics pēdēăˈtrĭks [key], branch of medicine dedicated to the attainment of the best physical, emotional, and social health for infants, children, and young people generally. Pediatrics becam...

rust, in botany

(Encyclopedia)rust, in botany, name for various parasitic fungi of the order Uredinales and for the diseases of plants that they cause. Rusts form reddish patches of spores on the host plant. About 7,000 species ar...

biotechnology

(Encyclopedia)biotechnology, the use of biological processes, as through the exploitation and manipulation of living organisms or biological systems, in the development or manufacture of a product or in the technol...