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dwarfism

(Encyclopedia)dwarfism, condition in which an animal or plant is less than normal in size and lacks the capacity for normal growth. Dwarfism is deliberately produced and perpetuated in certain species (e.g., in bre...

Grumman, Leroy Randle

(Encyclopedia)Grumman, Leroy Randle, 1895–1982, American aviation pioneer and aerospace executive, b. Huntington, N.Y. After graduating from Cornell (1916), he joined the U.S. navy, where he served as a flight in...

Eustace, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Eustace, Alan (Robert Alan Eustace), 1956–, American computer scientist and adventurer, b. Pine Hills, Fla., Ph.D. Univ. of Central Florida, 1984. He worked for Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq, Hewl...

radiation sickness

(Encyclopedia)radiation sickness, harmful effect produced on body tissues by exposure to radioactive substances. The biological action of radiation is not fully understood, but it is believed that a disturbance in ...

actinomycin

(Encyclopedia)actinomycin ăkˌtənōmīˈsən [key], any one of a group of antibiotics produced by bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. Actinomycin was the first antibiotic reported to be able to halt cancer; howev...

Nelson, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, town (1991 pop. 30,449), Lancashire, N England. It has cotton and rayon factories and electrical engineering works.

Hinckley and Bosworth

(Encyclopedia)Hinckley and Bosworth, district, Leicestershire, central England. Hosiery and shoes are the chief manufactures. Other industries are dyeing and engineer...

cystic fibrosis

(Encyclopedia)cystic fibrosis sĭsˈtĭk fībrōˈsĭs [key], inherited disorder of the exocrine glands (see gland), affecting children and young people; median survival is 25 years in females and 30 years in males...

Roebling, John Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Roebling, John Augustus rōˈblĭng [key], 1806–69, German-American engineer, b. Mulhouse. He studied engineering in Berlin and in 1831 came to the United States. He demonstrated the practicability ...

Gilbert, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Walter, 1932–, American molecular biologist, b. Boston, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1957. In 1968 he became a professor of biophysics at Harvard, where he had taught since 1959. He helped formulate a ...

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